Ranma Three Fourths
by KoopaSensei
Summary: An AU where almost everything has some slight shifts, from backstories, to character personalities, even to the curses themselves!
1. Where's Ranma?

It was raining when Akane's father told her the news. Apparently, years ago, Soul Tendo had promised his best friend to entwine their families through the marriage of children, and now that this Saotome person and his son were coming back to Japan it was time to arrange the marriage. It grated her nerves that her father had waited until the day of arrival to tell Akane and her sisters about the visit that would end one of their lives forever. Well, that was overstating it a little, but Akane wasn't the biggest fan of guys right now, and the fact that she could end up married to one for the rest of her life seemed like a death sentence.

Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi sat formally at the dinner table with their father, waiting for their guests to arrive. Occasionally the silence would be shattered by a thundercrack, before settling again into stillness. Akane could already tell from their faces what her sisters felt about this. Nabiki was probably feeling inconvenienced, but had weighed the options and knew that with a man permanently wrapped around her finger getting what she wanted would be much easier. Kasumi was happy to do as her father said, and was clearly optimistic that she and her husband would get along famously.

Finally, after nearly a half hour of silent waiting, the door opened and in walked two men. The taller man was clearly her father's old friend, Genma Saotome. He was clearly bald, even though he tried to hide that with a bandana, and the years showed on his face in a way they had never shown on her own father's. Genma's son stood at his side, slightly shorter. He looked to be the same age as Akane, and his long black hair was tied into a traditional tail. He was clearly a martial artist as well, his toned physique standing out well through his gi. Even though she would never admit it to the stranger, Akane did find he was attractive. She then realized she was staring, and started to blush. The young man had been looking at her as well, and his blush mirrored her own.

Soun Tendo rushed to his feet and gave his old friend a tight hug. "Genma, you old fool! How was China?" The two then began to talk about various things, while the young man sat across the table from the Tendo daughters.

"So," Nabiki said, trying to start a conversation. "Our father neglected to tell us your name, Mr. Saotome. Considering one of us is going to be the new Mrs. Saotome soon, I think we'd like to know more about you, right?" Kasumi nodded and Akane shrugged, trying to come off as indifferent.

The newcomer's blush intensified, and he stammered out, "T-That wasn't my idea! I'm way too young to get married yet!" After realizing from their stares how silly he was being, he continued with, "My name is Ranma Saotome, and I'm 16 years old."

Something about that made Nabiki's coy smile widen. "Oh really? Now that's _very_ interesting. That makes you and Akane here the same age." The last sentence was said with more volume, and it managed to carry into the conversation of the parents.

"What?" Soun asked. "If that's true, would it be alright with you, Genma, if Akane were to be the one to marry your son? It seems like the perfect sign, them being the same age and all."

Genma brought a hand to his chin, closing his eyes in deep meditation. "Well, perhaps a more experienced wife would be for the better..." After leaving that hanging in the air for a few seconds, Genma laughed and shook his head. "I'm joking of course! Akane would be perfect for my son!"

"It's decided then! Akane and Ranma shall be married on her 18th birthday!" And with that, the final nail in Akane's coffin crashed down, sealing her into a matrimonial fate.

* * *

It had been decided that in order to make the arranged marriage more pleasant, Akane and Ranma would spend the evening alone together. At first they weren't sure what to do, but Akane finally decided to try being civil and asked to spar with him. Their session was long and tiring. Akane marvelled at Ranma's speed, but in the few occasions she managed to hit him she could tell he was surprised with her strength. By the end they were tired, sweaty, and feeling more willing to talk. The first topic of conversation was, of course, how stupid this marriage was. "I mean, we hadn't even really met before it was decided!" she exclaimed.

That made Ranma laugh. "Not met? We hadn't even been born yet when they made their stupid agreement. Our dads, I'm telling you..." Akane could tell something had occurred to him, and waited for him to vocalize it. "Akane, what happened to your mother?" The question shocked her, and that was plain to see on her face. "I-I'm sorry! You don't have to answer th-"

"No, it's okay," Akane said. She took a deep breath, then continued. "I haven't talked about her to anyone in years. She died of an illness when I was still very young, so young that I can't remember much more of her than her face. Dad still prays to her shrine all the time, he still hasn't recovered. Kasumi's taken it a lot better, she goes to her grave occasionally. And Nabiki...she hasn't talked about her in years. I think she's trying to ignore the whole thing, and that worries me." She looked up into Ranma's eyes, her own still a little teary. "What about you Ranma? Where's your mom?"

A small stretch of silence passed before he answered. "She's still alive, I think. I haven't seen her since I was a child. My dad took me to train, and since then we've basically been homeless, traveling from place to place and training. I guess her and pop are separated, technically." He sighed. "I wish I knew where she lived, so I could see her one day, y'know." He turned and saw Akane staring at him, a small smile on her face. "What?" Ranma asked.

"You're not so bad, Ranma. For a guy, I mean," Akane said, leaving the _and marrying you wouldn't be so bad_ unspoken. That led to a whole conversation about the differences between guys and girls, which went on for hours. Their emotions flung between righteous indignation, playful teasing, and begrudging acceptance throughout. Before they knew it they had spent hours just talking with each other, and they realized they had to head to bed. Akane left for her room, while Ranma went to sleep in the family room, with his father.

* * *

Akane was always the first to wake up in the morning, and decided to start off the day after getting dressed by sneaking downstairs to wake up Ranma. He was a surprisingly able conversationalist, and they was so much more they could talk about before they both had to go to school for the day. Akane made it to the family room without waking anyone, and saw both Ranma and Genma asleep in their sleeping bags. She crept up towards Ranma, still fast asleep, when she noticed something odd. His hair color had changed overnight; where it was once black it was a now a vibrant red. Confused, Akane decided to wake him up in the most interesting manner: pinching his nose. It took a few seconds for the lack of oxygen to hit Ranma, but he definitely was awake after that. "Wha? What's going on?" Ranma asked, still a little groggy. Ranma's voice sounded several octaves higher, and as Ranma pulled out of the sleeping bag, Akane saw that Ranma's body was very different from how she remembered it. Ranma was now nearly a foot shorter, and Ranma's chest sported breasts larger than Akane's own! Ranma's whole body was completely feminine. What was going on?

"Where's Ranma?" Akane asked, not sure anymore that this person really was Ranma anymore.

The stranger blinked her eyes, then sighed. "I told pop we should have just told you guys from the outside, but he never listens to me. He said you wouldn't believe it until you saw it." The girl looked Akane directly in the eyes and said, "Akane, it's me. I'm Ranma Saotome."

Akane was befuddled. "But, how? We spared yesterday, and you were clearly a man then!"

"My dad and I were training in China for the last year or so, and one of the last places we visited before coming here was Jusenkyo, a holy place. It's fully of springs and in each one someone or something has drowned there, cursing the water. Now, whoever falls into a spring becomes cursed. Neither pop or me bothered to listen to our guide, so we didn't even know about the curses until after he knocked me into one. I came out like this. Every four days I wake up like this, and I won't change back until tomorrow morning. We asked then, but no one knows of a cure." Ranma's voice took on a pleading tone. "I'm so sorry I hid this from you Akane. Are you mad?"

It took a moment for Akane to think of a reply. "No, no I'm not. This isn't your fault, it's your father's. Plus, as far as curses go, you could have gotten off a lot worse."

Ranma looked down at herself and grinned. "True. So, are you ready to head out for school? I won't take long getting ready myself."

That made Akane scratch her head. "How are we going to explain your curse to the school board?" she asked.

"We'll think of something on the way there. Let's get ready and go."

Akane knew it would take a while to get used to her fiance's odd curse, but she still found herself feeling hopeful. Maybe something good would come out of this after all.


	2. School is No Place for a Storm of Love!

_Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has latched onto this fic so far! I am so surprised that anyone wants to read my drabbles, but happy nonetheless. I'm glad that some people are enjoying the changes that the different curse brings, and I hope that over time I can win the others over. As for OOC Ranma and Akane, I tried to make them seem more in-character with this chapter, but part of it is intentional. I'm not trying to write the exact same people from the anime/manga, but an AU version of them. Namely, ones who don't make nearly as many stupid decisions. With that, I hope you enjoy the new chapter._

Ranma and Akane were halfway to school when Akane finally noticed something and brought it up. "Ranma, did you dad buy you both a men's and women's version of the school uniform?" she asked, looking up at her fiance walking on the top of the fence on the side of the street, clad in the same uniform Akane herself was wearing.

The young martial artist shrugged. "Yeah. He knew there were gonna be problems, so he went ahead and got me both versions just to be safe." They kept walking for a few more minutes in silence until Akane felt the need to say something more.

"So, what are we going to do about this? I mean, you can't just go to the principal and say, 'I know I'm registered as a boy, but I was cursed to become a girl a quarter of my life. Can I get my ID card now?' We're going to have to think of some kind of lie." It took half a minute for her to turn her head and give Ranma a pointed look. "I was hoping for some input, Ranma," she irritably.

That caught Ranma's attention. "Why exactly can't I do that, though? Why would I lie about something like this?"

Ranma's reply made Akane want to facepalm. "Ranma, our principal probably won't think you're lying, he'll think you're crazy. There's no way to prove what you're saying, and most people aren't going to accept such an insane idea at face value." Akane really wanted to continue the conversation, but they were coming up to the school gate, and she needed to get something out of the way. "I'm sorry Ranma, but I forgot to mention something. I'd explain but you should get it pretty quickly. Just be quiet and let me do the talking, okay?" She looked up and saw Ranma nod at her, smiling.

"Akane Tendo!" came a shout from the front of the school. Waiting there, as usual, was a young man in a kendo uniform, holding a wooden practice sword. " _My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite._ "

She didn't need to look up to know that Ranma was giving her a curious glance. "Sorry, Kuno, but I need to get to class. Will you please just let me get through quickly, just this once?" Despite her words, there was less pleading in her voice and more irritation.

"Ha!" Kuno laughed, looking around at an audience that wasn't there. "So the fair maiden wishes haste on this fine morn! Dost she know that the fastest way to her place of education is to merely accept my proposal of everlasting love?"

Apparently that all of this was too much for Ranma, and she couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. "Okay, what the hell is going on? Akane, who is this bozo?"

It seems that it wasn't until Ranma spoke that Kuno noticed her existence. His eyes lingered on her for several seconds before he answered. "And who is this beauty who hath interrupted mine converse with the object of my affection? Does she not know that I am Tatewaki Kuno: upperclassman, cultured gentleman, and Blue Thunder of Furi-"

"Ranma, this is Kuno. Kuno, this is Ranma. We don't have time for more of this, Kuno, let's just get it over with." With that, Akane threw her backpack at Ranma and charged at Kuno, who had his sword at the ready. It looked at first that she was sprinting to his right, and seeing that Kuno swung his sword in a horizontal slash, aiming for her center of mass. Akane clearly saw this coming and ducked the wooden sword, then shifted her weight before he could counterattack and sent herself flying to his left. Off-balance and confused by the seemingly disappeared Akane, Kuno wasn't ready for her blow. The upperclassman went flying the side, landing on the soft grass of the school lawn. Akane raised herself back to full height at straightened her clothes a little. "Are we done here, Kuno?" she asked in a sweet voice.

Kuno rose up gracefully and sighed. "I suppose I must concede on this day, Akane Tendo. Mark my words, however: we will do battle again on the coming morn!" With that, Kuno entered the school, though not before looking back for one last glance at Ranma. Akane grabbed her backpack from Ranma and started walking into the building, with Ranma hurrying to follow.

"So, what exactly was all of that?" Ranma asked, her arms resting behind her head as they walked.

The question made Akane let out an exasperated sigh. "Ever since everyone at school learned I know martial arts, some of the boys decided that made me 'hot'. Most of them I was able to dissuade with some pointed words, but Kuno has a head thicker than the earth's crust. After I tried threatening him to stop it, he somehow took that as a challenge, and he hasn't let me get to school without fighting him ever since then."

Akane wasn't sure what was going through Ranma's mind in the short silence that followed. Finally, Ranma spoke. "Did you ever think of at least going on a date with him? He's not exactly bad looking, and if he's still the same jerk he is to you usually, you could just dump him."

The idea made Akane's eyebrows rise up. "You think he's cute? Aren't you a guy?"

That made Ranma laugh. "Not right now I'm not. I've noticed that I'm a little different on my girl days, so I've stopped trying to pretend like everything's normal: it's not. So yeah, I think he's kinda cute. An idiot, but kinda cute. Has he ever come close to beating you?"

Now it was Akane's turn to laugh. "That's not happening. I wish I could say it was due to my amazing martial arts abilities, but it's actually because he goes easy on me." Ranma let out a groan.

"What a sexist jerk."

Akane giggled. "Weren't you going at least a little easy on me during the sparing, yesterday Ranma?"

"Yeah, but I was a guy then, so it made sense. But when you're the girl who's being treated like a precious flower, it just comes off wrong." It was only then that Ranma realized they had arrived at the door that read 'Vice-Principal's Office'. "I thought we were gonna talk to the principal?"

It had been so long since Akane thought about their school's situation that it took her a moment to find a way to explain it. "Yeah, I had forgotten about that. Our actual principal just left years ago, but for some reason he was never fired and is technically still considered the school administrator. Without him here, the vice-principal has been basically acting as the principal ever since." They stood there awkwardly. "Well, we better get this over with." She knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in," came a man's voice from the other side. Akane opened the door and they both entered to find an middle-aged, balding man sitting behind a desk, looking at them. On his desk were several stacks of forms and papers, as well as a nameplate that read 'Roshoman Takahashi.' "Ah, hello there Ms. Tendo. What did you need to talk about?" He didn't remark on Ranma's presence, but his eyes were looking at her anyway.

Before Akane could respond, Ranma took the plunge. "Hey there, I'm Ranma Saotome, the new student that just enrolled."

The vice-principal's eyes narrowed as he looked down at his papers. "Uh, really? That's, um, interesting. It says here that our new student is male, actually."

Once again Akane tried to cut in and say something, but Ranma just plowed through. "Yeah, that's me. I was in China up until a few days ago, and while I was there I was cursed by a magical spring, now I keep turning into a girl every few days. That's why I'm here, I thought you'd want to know."

It was clear from his face that the vice-principal wasn't quite buying it, so Akane decided to back Ranma on this. "I know it sounds crazy, but she's telling the truth. Ranma is staying with my family for the time being, and when I met her yesterday she was a boy. I didn't believe it at first either, but he changed into a her overnight."

There was a short pregnant pause while it seemed the vice-principal was thinking it over. "Well, it does sound quite ridiculous. But you're a very good student, Akane, and considering the comments I've heard from your teachers I'll trust you. If you say this is Ranma Saotome, I'll believe you. You both better get to class, it's almost time for the school day to start."

-

It was now early afternoon, and classes had ended for the day. Akane and Ranma were exiting the school building, Ranma stretching her arms out, as they talked. "It's been a while since I was in a school, that was way harder than I thought it would be."

That made Akane laugh, and she smiled as she said, "Don't worry Ranma, I'll help you understand everything."

Ranma coughed. "Maybe you could also help with tomorrow's homework...for your fiance?"

Akane's eyes narrowed and she gave Ranma a soft whack to the back of her head. "I think you can do your own homework, Ranma. I said I'd help you understand it, I'm not going to do all your work for you." With that Akane walked faster, heading towards home. It took Ranma a moment to realize what just happened, and by the time she started to run after her, Akane was gone.

"Why does she have to be so uptight?" Ranma asked under her breath, kicking a pebble away with her foot. "It's not my fault this stuff is going after my head..."

"Is the lady having troubles in the most treacherous lands of friendship?" asked a basso voice from behind her. She turned around, and sure enough it was Kuno. "Mine ears did perchance catch the utterances of your conversation with the fair Akane Tendo. Truly she did react to strongly to thy suggestion, help with that nefarious necessity known as 'homework' is always welcome, especially if said help includes the finishing of said work without any effort from yourself."

It took a moment for Ranma to work her way through Kuno's speech, but she ended up nodding in agreement. "Yeah! It wasn't like I was asking her to finish all of it, just, like, half or something." That's when something hit Ranma. "Wait a sec, are you flirting with me? I thought you were deeply in love with Akane or something."

Something about that made Kuno raise an eyebrow. "What law by heaven or earth hath decried that a young man must have only room in his heart for one love? In truth, I do love Akane. But you have your own charms, miss Saotome. Not only that, but I was told by a friend who had passed through the hall near you earlier that you exclaimed to your companion that I was 'cute'. Is this true?"

"Well, yeah, I did, but-"

"Say no more! You have already revealed thine heart, good lady! I ask this: tomorrow please present yourself to me at the school gate if you wish to move forward and continue our courtship. Until then, have a lovely day." With that, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High ran away, clearly very pleased with himself. Ranma walked to her new home with her hands in her pockets. She knew this was going to get worse before it got better.

-

When Ranma opened the door and entered her home, she found the entire household waiting for her. "So, it is true then!" Soun said, clearly mystified.

Nabiki was looking Ranma up and down, smiling slyly. "Not bad at all. I might get some millage out of this..."

Before Ranma could comment on that, Kasumi came up and gave her a big hug. "Oh Ranma, we had no idea of the curse you carried with you! As your new family, we promise to love and support you through this crisis."

Ranma struggled to push her head up to look Kasumi in the face. "Uh, thanks for that. Where's Akane?" Ranma's father pushed up his glasses and sighed.

"She seemed very upset when she came home, Ranma. She ran up to her room, and we haven't seen her since then." Without a word Ranma slipped out of Kasumi's embrace and sprinted through the house and up the stairs to Akane's room.

She stood there silently for a while, not sure what to do. Before she could think of a game plan, Akane opened the door and started to walk out, only to see Ranma in her way. Akane scowled. "..."

Not being able to bare that look that was rending her very soul, Ranma stammered out, "I'm sorry, okay?" Akane wasn't scowling anymore, but she was definitely still not happy, as her glare could attest to. Ranma sighed. "I'm seriously sorry, Akane. I shouldn't have asked you to do that for me." That seemed to be better, but Akane still wasn't talking. Ranma put on a mischievous smile. "You would not believe what happened after you left, Akane."

That certainly peaked Akane's interest. "Oh, really?"

Ranma nodded. "Kuno came up to me, using all that fancy talk and all, and says he heard us talking. Specifically, the part where I called him 'cute'. So now he has the hots for me, too!"

"Seriously? What an idiot," Akane said. "Does that mean he's given up on me then?

With a laugh, Ranma shook her head. "Nope. He said a bunch of crap that basically means that he thinks he can romance as many girls as he wants at the same time." The two shared some laughs over that, and before long they were inside Akane's room, discussing whatever topics came to mind and enjoying themselves. The hours passed quickly, and when it was time for bed Ranma said, "Goodnight," and left to go sleep downstairs. Akane drifted off to sleep not long after, dreaming of black-haired young men and red-headed young ladies.


	3. A Sudden Horsing Around

The relief Ranma felt at waking up that morning as a man was overwhelming. Being a girl for a day wasn't the worst thing in the world, but he always caused problems on those days, and yesterday was no exception. Now Tatewaki Kuno, absolute moron and would be suitor to Akane, was in love with him. Of course, he wasn't very sure how he was going to deal with the situation, but just the fact that he was back to his normal self gave him the confidence that everything would turn out for the best.

When he had gotten dressed and ready for school he headed into the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat before going to school, and he found Akane there doing the same. She shared a quick smile with him as she brushed her long hair with one hand and finished eating an apple with the other. Ranma grabbed an apple for himself and they both headed for the door.

"So," Akane said as they left her house, "how are you going to deal with Kuno?"

"I have no idea," Ranma admitted.

That made Akane roll her eyes. "What about our other classmates? You were introduced yesterday as Ranma Saotome, a girl. Are you just going to go to your seat and act like nothing's wrong? Someone is bound to notice, especially the teachers."

It took a lot of Ranma's willpower not to audibly growl in annoyance at Akane's further questions. "Akane, I know. This is gonna be complicated and stuff. Bugging me about it now won't help, okay?" The silence that followed was thick enough to cut with a knife, and eventually Ranma's curiosity won out. He looked down and saw that Akane was pointedly not looking at him, he eyes instead focused on the middle distance. At first he thought maybe if he waited long enough, she'd give up her angry spite. Nope. They were almost to their school when Ranma sighed and spoke again. "I'm sorry Akane. You're just trying to help and I was rude. Can you please start talking to me again?"

To Ranma's immense surprise, Akane turned her head to look at him and smiled! "Thank you for the apology, Ranma." It was at that moment that a shudder went through Ranma's body, and he felt a grim foreboding that this was not a solitary event but a premonition of more to come. Ranma wasn't able to reminate much on that, as they were coming upon the school gate. And, just as Ranma had feared, there stood Tatewaki Kuno, sword in hand, smiling. As Ranma and Akane drew closer, however, his smile turned into a scowl.

"What treachery is this!" he spat into the morning air, clearly upset. "Where is Ranma Saotome, the pig-tailed girl?" He looked closer at Ranma, his face twisted into confusion. "You, boy! You resemble the young beauty I speak of, are you her cousin or brother or somesuch other relation?" Kuno smiled again, clearly having come upon an idea he liked. "Ah, the lass is so smitten with me that she cannot bare to see my face, is that not so? And she has sent you here with word of her love, yes?"

It was very clear to Ranma that Kuno determined to interpret this in a way that benefited him. It almost made him feel bad for what he had decided to say next. Almost. "Close, Kuno, very close. Yeah, I'm her twin brother. My name is Ranmaku, hers is Ranmacha, but we both shorten it to just Ranma. She did send me here to talk to you, but you seem to be a little confused as to why." Ranma smiled, the lying actually coming with an element of excitement. Sure, it was wrong, but something about tricking Kuno like this just made him happy. "Sorry Tatewaki, but she doesn't think of you like that. My sis wouldn't mind being your friend, but you hitting on her like that yesterday creeped her out enough that she doesn't feel well enough to come to school today. You got that?"

The look Tatewaki Kuno gave to Ranma at that moment was so full of vitriol and hatred that it almost felt like he was trying to give Ranma a heart attack from sheer enmity alone. "You lie! I thinkst thou hast hidden my love from me, as thou cannot understand the bond that links her heart and my own! After the final bell chimes and the teachings of this fine establishment are at an end for this day, I shall wait here to do battle with you, Ranmaku Saotome! You will rue the day you crossed Tatewaki Kuno, rising star and Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" With that, the kendo enthusiast walked off in a huff. Akane and Ranma shrugged and went to enter class themselves.

Akane couldn't help herself as they walked up to their classroom door, and whispered under her breath, "Seriously? 'Ranmaku'? 'Ranmacha'? That was the best you could come up with?"

"I thought it was clever..." Ranma whispered back.

"Well, I hope you can come up with something better than that for the teachers," Akane replied, hoping that this wouldn't be as embarrassing and humiliating as she had a feeling it would be. They entered their homeroom class with some time still before class actually started.

Their teacher, Mrs. Heichimura, was already behind her desk, looking at her lesson plan for the day. She looked up and saw them enter the room, a startled expression on her face. "Mr. Saotome! The vice-principal had told me about your unique circumstances, but I wasn't sure I believed it until now!"

Ranma's eyes grew wide with shock. "He told you?!"

The look their teacher gave Ranma was an odd mixture of confusion and irritability. "Of course he did, Mr. Saotome. What did you expect him to do?"

"What are you going to tell the class?" Ranma asked.

Mrs. Heichimura's young face looked even more befuddled now. "Tell them the truth, of course. Unless you have some better way to explain to them why their classmate from yesterday is only here a quarter of class days, and when she's not here there's some identical boy sitting in her seat?" Once she said it like that, Ranma was forced to admit, at least to himself, that this was probably the best way to move forward. He thanked his teacher and headed to his seat, which was near the middle of the classroom. Sure enough, almost immediately after the bell rung she addressed the class. "Good morning, everyone. Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering why someone else is sitting in the new transfer student's seat." A low murmur of affirmative responses filled the pause she left, the sound coming more from the male students than the female ones. "Well, it turns out your new classmate has more to them than they had first told us. You see, that _is_ Ranma Saotome. He was apparently cursed while visiting China some time ago, and so he turns into a girl sometimes. Say hello to the class again, Ranma."

Ranma nervously rose from his chair and said to the class. "Hey, I'm Ranma Saotome, 16 years old, just moved here." It was the same introduction he'd given yesterday, and the way he had delivered it removed any lingering doubts among the students that this was some sort of prank on the teacher's part.

This revelation caused excited chatter to overtake the classroom, at least until Mrs. Heichimura very pointedly cleared her throat. "Yes, it is very interesting and exotic, but we do need to move on to our lesson for the day. Please save any questions about it for during between class breaks, when you can ask Mr. Saotome himself. I would also very much appreciate it if you did not use this as ammunition for bullying him. Now then, yesterday we finished off with the invasion of Imperial Korea. When was that?"

Instead of paying that much attention to the lesson, Ranma couldn't help feeling appreciative of his fresh-from-university-teacher. She somehow managed smooth over his whole curse issue, while being pretty polite about it, too. Though the bullying thing really wasn't necessary. If someone wanted to try that on him, he'd be happy to show them what their teeth tasted like, girl-form or no.

-

As the final bell sounded, Ranma let out a sigh of relief. His day at school, something he already wasn't a super big fan of, had been regularly interrupted by his classmates's questions. Hiroshi and Daisuke, two guys who sat near him, would not stop pestering him for details of his female form or 'subtle' requests to hang out on his next girl day. Nearly as bad were Yuka and Sayuri, who were apparently good friends of Akane. They were more interested it what it was like to switch between genders, the differences and all that. The only problem was some of their questions were **way** too personal. The second class was over, he jumped from his seat and ran out of class, forcing Akane to stop the conversation she was in with her friends and follow him in a huff.

When he exited the school, he found himself face-to-face with Tatewaki Kuno, who had an identical expression of fury and enmity from earlier. That just made Ranma's mood even worse; he'd completely forgotten about his little duel. "Ah, the coward finally arrives!" Kuno shouted. "Well then, I suppose, as a gentleman, it is my duty to offer you this chance at mercy. Admit your villainy and return here with my love, Ranmacha! Do so, and I will find it in my heart to forgive your la-"

Before Kuno could finish, Ranma sprinted up to him and punched him square in the jaw. "If you're gonna fight, then fight, don't talk!"

Ranma's punch sent Kuno flying back several yards, but the swordsman landed on his feet. "Knave!" he shouted. Kuno rushed at his opponent, swinging his wooden practice sword as he drew closer. Ranma rolled his eyes, ready to dodge the strike at the last minute just for style points. Just before the strike would hit him, Ranma jumped up and back, doing some flips just for the fun of it. What he wasn't expecting was Kuno dashing forward to where he was about to land and striking again. Ranma moved to duck just as he landed, making what would have been a direct hit instead a glancing blow. Pain shot through Ranma's right arm, something worse than he'd felt in a long time. Before his opponent could land another blow Ranma lashed out with his left hand, using more force than he had been expected and sending Kuno flying across the square.

It took a second for Ranma to stand up; several of his classmates came over to check if he was okay, but he waved them away. Then Akane came up, clearly concerned. "What were you thinking?" she cried out, pulling his school uniform's sleeve up to examine the injury on this arm. "It looks like your arm might be broken, Ranma. We need to take you to a doctor, right now." A low murmur of concern came from the crowd that had formed, and they allowed Akane to lead Ranma out from it and away from the school.

"Where are we going?" Ranma asked. His pain was bleeding into his voice, despite his attempts to ignore the agony. Akane led him down several blocks until they arrived at a building with a clinic sign.

Akane gave him a reassuring smile. "This is the clinic me and my family go to. Come on, he should be here." They entered the small building and immediately Ranma saw the doctor. He had longer hair for a man and was wearing a robe. He turned around in a swivel chair and smiled at his guests. "Good afternoon, Dr. Tofu," Akane said to him, respectfully.

The doctor adjusted his glasses and replied, "Hello Akane! It's been a while. And who is this young man with the injured humerus?" As Dr. Tofu talked he moved Ranma onto a patient's cot and started to examine his arm.

Akane blushed. "Oh, uh, this is Ranma Saotome. He's a classmate of mine and he recently moved in with my family. He's also, well, my fiance." That seemed to make Tofu's smile grow wider, but besides that the conversation ended there. Akane sat in a visitor's chair waiting while Dr. Tofu worked on Ranma's arm. After nearly half an hour with nothing to fill the dead air but Ranma's pained groans, Dr. Tofu finally turned around and gave Akane a thumbs up.

"Your fiance should be fine now, Akane. His bone was broken, but the split was sharp and clean. I set it and wrapped it, so now he just needs to wear a cast for a week or so, and not strain himself with any more fighting." The doctor's diagnosis was delivered with a jovial spirit, though under that was a clear curiosity of how this happened.

Before Akane could explain, Ranma answered the unspoken question. "I was fighting Tatewaki Kuno, and my guard slipped. I didn't expect this, though."

Dr. Tofu inhaled sharply, "That sounds rough. I've actually seen a lot of patients who've been in kendo matches with him, and this is actually better than most of them." He slapped Ranma on his uninjured shoulder. "Well, I know he's not exactly the easiest person to get along with, but I really must stress on my 'no fighting' policy for now. Okay?"

"Sure, sure," Ranma muttered. "It's not like I went out looking to fight him."

After some quick goodbyes, Akane and Ranma started their walk home. For a while, they were quite. Of course, that couldn't last long. "Ranma, that was really stupid of you," Akane said, punctuating the remark by lightly punching his uninjured arm. What surprised Ranma was that there wasn't any anger in her voice. Instead it came out as more tired.

Ranma sighed. "Yeah, I guess it was." He turned to look her in the eyes. "Were you worried about me?" he asked, a hint of teasing in his tone.

That made Akane roll her eyes. "Not in a million years, jerk. There was no way Kuno could actually beat you. I wonder what happened to him, anyway?"

"Who cares?" Ranma shrugged, and Akane laughed. There were going to be questions when they got home, and this would definitely make Ranma's pop unhappy, what with it cutting into their training. But at that moment, none of that mattered. Right now they were enjoying themselves, and life was good.

 _Author's Notes: :O Last time saying this, but seriously why is everyone reading this, what the what the what? With this chapter I consciously tried to make our leads a little more in-character than before, and of course I had a blast writing more Kuno. He's the best. The chapters after this one will be a little more slice-of-life-y, but hopefully that will give me time for more character development and stuff. So…yeah. Thanks for reading this!_


	4. Ranma and Genma: If It's Not One Thing

The pleasant mood that Ranma and Akane's walk home had created was not to last. Once home, they found Ranma's father practicing his martial arts in the back yard. At the sound of their footsteps, he turned and gave his son a hearty smile. "Ranma! Now that you're finally back, it's time to do some training!" Before Ranma could reply, Genma's eyes fell on his son's injured arm. "What happened, boy?"

"There was a fight at school, I broke my arm," Ranma said, his frustration clear from his tone. There was another emotion in there too, but Akane couldn't quite tease it's meaning out. "The doc Akane took me too says that I can't do any fighting for a week, pop."

There was a silence that struck Akane as very awkward, only for it to end when Genma started laughing. Something about the sound rang cruelly in Akane's ears. "That's hilarious, Ranma. Someone broke your arm in a fight? Nice try on getting out of practice, but it isn't going to work." Genma stretched into a fighting position, clearly ready to leap at his son, but Akane stopped him.

"Mr. Saotome, Ranma isn't lying. He got into a fight with an upperclassman, and I took him to my family's doctor to see about his arm." Something about this didn't feel right.

The older man's eyebrows furrowed, his face set into a scowl. "Did you lose the fight, boy?" he asked his son.

The question made Ranma roll his eyes. "Of course I won it, old man. He just nicked me."

"Nicked you?! You broke your arm! You let your guard down, didn't you! I'm always telling you that you need to take fights seriously, and this is exactly what I knew would happen! You're a fool, Ranma. I've spent nearly half my life training you, and you lose to some nobody! Maybe I should adopt him as my son instead!" The silence that stood then was deafening.

Akane watched as Ranma took a slow, deep breath. His hands were clenched tight, but his face was calm, looking at a spot behind his father's head. Without a word to his father, he turned and stalked away into the house. Genma seemed to be just as angry, fuming at the spot. More than anything, Akane herself was just shocked. Her own father had never been anything but loving towards her, and she had never seen something like this before. But as Ranma walked away, her surprise steeled itself into a cold anger. She bowed stiffly to her fiance's father and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Saotome," her voice formal but icy.

It didn't take long for Akane to find Ranma, he had gone to where she thought he would. The young man was standing in the family dojo, looking up at the sign that read, "Anything Goes Martial Arts". She walked up to him, but didn't say anything. She just stood there, a few feet to his right, not saying anything. She didn't need to. Ranma looked over at her, and she could see Ranma's anger plain on his face. His arm was shaking, his whole body thick with tension. But he didn't say anything either. Not at first.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he walked over and punched the wall of the dojo with his uninjured hand. He must have put his all into the punch, because the thick timber wood of the wall crunched and cracked under his fist. "How can he say that to me?" Ranma asked, his voice much quieter than Akane had expected. "I've spent my entire life training with him, for him. And for what?" He looked into Akane's eyes, and she could see the anger draining from his face. Instead, Ranma just looked weary. Without even thinking about it, Akane ran up and gave Ranma a tight hug, being careful not to squeeze on his injured arm.

Akane tried to say something, but it was only then she realized she didn't have any idea what _to_ say. Should she apologize? Tell him things were okay, that his father loved him? Advise him to ignore Genma's taunts? Akane just didn't know. So instead, she just kept hugging him.

This lovely moment the two of them shared was immediately ruined by the sound of a camera snapping a picture. "Well, well, well!" exclaimed a voice from the doorway. "Looks like the two lovebirds are up to hugging now, eh?" Ranma and Akane looked over to find Nabiki standing there, smiling.

"Nabiki!" Akane screeched. "What is wrong with you?" She was going to continue, but then Akane watched as her sister's smirk lost it's edge, and something quieter sparked in her eyes. Akane followed Nabiki's gaze and saw that there was actually a tear on Ranma's face, though he was moving to wipe it away just as they saw it.

To Akane's surprise, Nabiki threw her camera at the two of them, Ranma managing to catch it with one hand. "Keep it. Think of it as my future wedding present. Then she walked away, leaving Ranma and Akane standing there, looking at the camera.

Ranma frowned. "That's a really lame wedding present."

-

When Akane and Ranma left her room to join the others for dinner, she could see the tension building in his stance as they walked down the stairs. Once there, they sat down and found that Genma sitting at his usual place, already eating dinner. Almost as soon as Ranma was seated he piled some food on his plate and started eating quickly.

Too quickly. In less then ten seconds he coughed and started choking on a piece of meat. Before Akane could move, Genma was already behind his son. A few quick compressions on Ranma's chest from Genma's calloused hands and Ranma coughed up the meat, taking deep breaths now that his throat wasn't marred by obstructions. "Eat slower, boy!" Genma said, chiding his son as he moved back to his own place. "I can't have you going and dying on me. What would I do then? I'm too old to make another heir." Akane could see that despite the tough face he was putting on Genma was pretty spooked. "Oh, and I was thinking: on your cursed days your wounds heal when you transform, right? Maybe your arm won't be broken when you're a girl! If so, we can train all day this Saturday." Genma paused to fill his mouth with more of Kasumi's roast pork. "It might actually work out well for us, we haven't trained you as much in that form."

All Ranma did was nod to his father, but Akane could see that it was an acceptance of the peace offering his father was offering. After dinner they went back up to her room and once they'd sat down in their usual spots on the floor she began helping him with his homework once more. In the middle of a deadly struggle with their algebra textbook, Akane asked him, "Are you okay?"

He seemed to chew on the question for a while before answering. "Yeah, I think so. Sorry you had to see me lose it earlier." He chuckled. "Maybe the curse is making me as emotional as a girl now?" He finished the comment by sticking his tongue out at Akane, who replied by punching him in the shoulder.

"Very funny, wise guy. Remind me to talk to you about that comment in a few days, and we'll see what you think about it then." At first it seemed like they had dropped the topic, but they hadn't even finished another ten problems before Akane spoke again. "Ranma, is your dad always like that?"

For a second Ranma's eyes shifted around the room; he was clearly uncomfortable with the question. "I guess, yeah. I don't think I've ever met anyone who believes in tough love as much as my dad." He paused for a few seconds before continuing. "It's for my own good, I guess. It's the only way he's able to get through to an dumbass like me, right?" Ranma turned and looked surprised at the harsh stare Akane was giving him. "What?"

Akane dropped the glare and sighed. "Ranma, you're not dumb."

"Thanks for the pep-talk Akane, but come on, let's face the obvious." Ranma gestured his hand towards the textbook and papers in front of them on the floor. "This is supposed to be an easy lesson, but without you there's no way I would be able to finish this!"

For some reason, Akane could feel her temper flaring as he talked. "Ranma, where did you go to school before this?" From what he'd shared with her so far, she was pretty sure of his answer.

Ranma scratched his head and took a second to remember an answer. "Let's see...a few years ago I went to a middle school in Osaka for a couple months. Then we left, and that was the last time I was in school, until now. That was how pretty much every school went for me, actually. Every few years dad would enroll me in one when we were going to stay a little while in one place, but they never lasted more than six months. The rest of the time Dad would try to teach me anything he thought I needed to learn."

It took all of Akane's determination not to strike her forehead with her palm. "In summary: you've barely been in school and most of your life your only teacher has been Genma Saotome. Ranma, did you ever wonder if maybe _that's_ the reason why you're struggling so much?"

He shrugged. "I guess, but what can I do about that now? It's not like we can change my crappy childhood."

Akane actually started giggling. "Ranma, we can just keep doing this. Every night, I'll tutor you in something, and before next school year I bet you'll be caught up." The expression he gave was not the one she was hoping for. Instead of, of she didn't know, _gratitude_ , Ranma instead looked both mystified and in pain. "Ranma..." she growled.

"Sorry, sorry!" Ranma sputtered out. "I really do appreciate it Akane, but..." He looked down at dismay at the homework they had been working on already. "I feel like this is going to hurt."

-

The next day's morning had gone well, all things considered. Putting on clothes and getting ready with one hand wasn't something Ranma was exactly used to, but as long as he thought about it as training he was okay with it. As had become the norm Ranma and Akane chatted about things on the way to school, and to their immense surprise there was no robed swordsman waiting for them at the gate. Akane hopes Ranma's blow hadn't done some permanent damage to the idiot, but Ranma was reasonably confident that the obnoxious upperclassman would be up from whatever bed he was lying in and being dumb in no time. As they moved to enter the school, however, Ranma suddenly felt like he was in the shade, which was odd because the sky was completely clear earlier. He looked up and was surprised to find a yellow-cloaked man falling from the sky directly above him, some sort of weapon in his hands. Just as Ranma saw the attacker, the falling man cried out, "Raaaanmaaaa!" he yelled. "Die!"


	5. Enter Ryoga: School is a Battlefield!

Thanks to the mysterious man's shouting, Ranma had enough warning to grab Akane's hand with his good arm and for them both to jump out of the way of the man's attack. The attacker landed in a crouch, and the cement beneath him shattered as the tip of the parasol he was holding touched it. He looked up and met Ranma's eyes, and despite the body-concealing cloak and goggles he wore, Ranma knew who this was. "Ryoga?!" he asked, befuddled.

The man stood up straight, staring at Ranma with hatred in his eyes. His eyes twitched downward for a second as Ranma spoke his name, making Ranma think that Ryoga hadn't planned on being recognized so soon. He pulled away his cloak and goggles, revealing the young man underneath. Ryoga was still the same height as Ranma, and his sleeveless shirt showed that he had a similar level of physique as him as well. He wore a yellow and black bandanna, which was new, as well the umbrella. But the biggest difference Ranma saw in him was his face. The Ryoga he knew had never been of a pleasant temperament, but the sheer vitriol and spite on his visage as he looked at Ranma scared him. "I'm not here to catch up, Ranma. I'm here to end what we started years ago. Fight me, here and now."

Ranma ran a hand through his black hair. "Yeah, well, I'd love to man, but I'm kinda injured."

"What?" Ryoga exclaimed. His eyes moved to Ranma's arm and narrowed. "Is this some kind of trick?" It made Ranma want to roll his eyes. Ryoga always seemed to think Ranma was trying to trick him, which had only been the case, like, half the time. Maybe more.

It took a moment for Ranma to find what he was looking for in his pocket, but after managing to locate the wadded up piece of paper he threw it at Ryoga, who reacted as if it was going to explode. "It's a doctor's note, idiot. I broke my arm yesterday in a fight. It's not supposed to heal for a week or so, so if you don't mind could you wait until then to have our match?"

Ryoga closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate, before sighing. "This won't be nearly the fight I was looking for, but I'm still going to kill you Ranma. After what you did to me, I'm sure you understand." Before Ranma could reply Ryoga sprinted towards him, only to be intercepted by Akane. Ryoga stopped, unsure what was going on.

The glare that Akane was giving him may have had something to do with it. "Alright, what is this all about? What did Ranma do to you to make you want to kill him?!" Ranma had to give it to Akane. Standing up to Ryoga like this took guts. Unless she didn't realize how strong he was, in which case she was just being her usual self. Either way, it made Ranma smile.

Ryoga turned his head aside, a slight blush on his cheeks. "It's nothing to do with you. All you need to know is that Ranma Saotome ruined my life, and I've been waiting for a chance like this for years now." He managed to turn and look her somewhere approximately close to where her eyes were, and add, "If it's okay with you, I'd like to continue our fight now."

A fire lit in Akane's eyes, and she stared at him hard enough to make Ryoga take a few steps back before responding. "Actually, this does have a lot to do with me. I'm Ranma's fiance, Akane Tendo. Since he's too injured to fight you, and you seem to be completely dedicated to this, you can fight me instead. Meet me after school at the track field, and we can fight all you like."

For a second it wasn't clear how Ryoga was going to response, but he ended up shaking his head. "No. I'm not leaving this spot until I fight Ranma. Or you, I guess."

Akane rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll fight here then. Is that okay?" Ryoga nodded, and Akane took her fiance by the hand and led him through the doors to enter the school. "C'mon Ranma, we need to get to class now, or we'll be late." The two left Ryoga and several classmates who had witnessed the whole affair dumbstruck behind them.

-

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Ranma started to rise out of his seat, only to be forced down by Akane's hands. She sat down at the now empty desk in from of him and turned around to face him. For an awkward few seconds, Ranma had no idea what to say. "Uh, Akane, is there any reason you're stopping me from getting lunch?"

Akane's eyes flicked over to the classroom's clock as she replied. "Ryoga. Fight. Explain. Now."

Oh. Ranma sighed and gave himself a mental kick in the rear. He should have known this was coming. "That. Right. Well, remember when I told you that I went to middle school in Osaka for a while?" Akane nodded in reply. "Yeah, well, Ryoga lived nearby, and he went to school with me. It was an all-boys school, and he was the only other kid in our class who knew martial arts. We were really competitive, but I think he was the closest thing I had to a friend."

It was very clear to Ranma that Akane was irritated with how he was explaining this. "Then why does he want to kill you?" she asked. Her eyes focused on something behind Ranma, and he turned around to see Ryoga outside the school, right where he'd been that morning. He had been watching them, and even from this distance Ranma was quite sure that he was glaring at them.

"Well, you know how rowdy guys are, right? Well combine that with the childish energy of middle-school, and we were like a powerkeg. Every day when lunch came, we'd all run and push and shove to get to the food first. Before I showed up, Ryoga had always been first in line, but I was faster. Every day we did everything we could to win our little game, and it was actually pretty fun. At least, it was for me." Ranma paused, wincing a little at what he was gonna have to say next. "Akane, you know how I say thing that are, I don't know, mean?" Akane didn't even have to think before nodding, which hurt Ranma a little. "Well, let's just say I haven't changed much since then. I usually taunted Ryoga about how I always won, and Ryoga's never had a great temper to begin with. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore, and he challenged me a to a formal duel.

"We set everything up: the time, the place, everything. When the time came, I waited for him. I stood in that stupid empty lot for an entire afternoon, but he never showed up! Then I did it again the next day! I even came again the day after that, but pop showed up and said it was time to move on." Ranma shrugged. "That was the last time I saw him."

Akane pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers, her eyes closed in annoyance. "Ranma, what does any of that have to do with why he want to kill you?"

Her comment made Ranma roll his eyes and wave his hand absently. "Don't take that too seriously, Akane. Ryoga used to go around saying stuff like that all the time. He's not a terrible guy, he just has a temper." He looked at the clock himself, and saw that their lunch time was almost over. "Before you fight him, Akane, I need to warn you: this will not be easy. I'm not sure if you noticed, but he's strong. I don't know how strong, but I don't think I would be able to pull of the move he did earlier." He caught the look she was giving him and backpedaled quickly. "Not that you're weak or anything! But Ryoga, I know he's stronger than me, and he might be stronger than you." He looked pointedly away from Akane just as their classmates started to enter the room. "Just be careful, okay? I don't want you getting hurt over this."

-

School was over, and everyone had gone home a while ago. Akane and Ranma waited until the front area of school was clear of other students before exiting. Ryoga was there, waiting. He smiled as he saw them, and walked up to them. "I thought you might not be coming, but I'm happy to see that I was wrong." He set his umbrella aside, and Akane did the same with her backpack. They both entered fighting stances, and waited.

Though, Ranma thought, maybe 'waited' isn't the best word for it, considering that it took Ryoga only a few seconds of impatience before he launched himself at Akane, waiting until he was close enough before lashing out with a kick. Akane was ready for him, however, and dashed out of the way. Before Ryoga could recover Akane followed up her dodge with a punch, but Ryoga blocked it with his forearm, grabbed her wrist, and threw her in a swinging arc. Ranma stood watching, his body tense, but to his relief Akane righted herself in the air and landed on top of a chain fence, though her stance was a little slippery. She huffed, readied herself, then saw that Ryoga was bearing down on her again. He jumped into the air, spun vertically, and extended his leg out in a brutal kick. With little time to spare Akane jumped from her spot and landed nearby, watching as Ryoga's kick tore through the fence, leaving a large gash in it's metal where she had stood.

Akane gulped audibly as Ryoga turned and faced her again, his countenance grim. Then Ranma watched as her features smoothed into a calm mask, and he could see the wheels moving behind her eyes. Before Ryoga could move, Akane ran towards him, looking like she was prepared for another punch. Ryoga stood his ground and seemed to be ready for a punch of his own, but just as Akane got within his range she ducked under his punch and slid through his legs to end up behind him. She then quickly raised herself up by her hands and bucked Ryoga in the back as hard as she was able to.

At first it didn't look like the blow had any effect, but then Ryoga half-slumped to the ground. Seizing on this, Akane leapt onto Ryoga's back and started to rain blows down on his arms. Ryoga seemed to take them for a moment or two before grabbing both her arms and swinging her over his head and into the ground. Ranma wasn't sure at first, but the more he thought about the more confident he was that Ryoga's arms slowed down for a second mid-swing. Ranma ran up to Akane and tried to help her up. She looked like she was in pain, but not seriously injured. Ryoga looked at her, then down at his bruised arms. "I think that's enough for today," he said. Ranma heard something in his voice then that he wasn't able to place. "Ranma, heal up. When it's time, I'll be back. And I **will** kill you." With that, Ryoga grabbed his things and walked off.

Now that Ryoga was gone, Ranma helped Akane brush dirt from her clothes, then asked her, "Akane, are you going to be okay?"

To his immense surprise, Akane looked back at him with eyes full of anger and glorious satisfaction. "Yeah, I am. He went easy on me, didn't he?" Ranma nodded. She let out a sigh. "Well, I guess I can't take that much pride in winning then, huh?"

Ranma's eyes bugged out. "Are you crazy? You were awesome." The smile Akane gave him then was something Ranma would swear was magical. "Come on, Akane, let's get home. I think I have an idea for something that will make you and my pop happy." With that, the two left for home. Ranma was happy that Akane was okay, and that the Ryoga thing wasn't going to be a problem, at least for now. Akane was still beaming over her performance, but something was nagging on her: why had Ryoga acted like that? Why did he hate Ranma so much? She sighed quietly to herself as they walked. All she could do for now was hope they'd find out some day. For now, she was going to enjoy the moment.


	6. The Beast-Monster of the Dojo

"How could this have happened?!" Soun Tendo screamed, tears running down his face. The whole family was in the dining room after Kasumi let out a shout at Akane's torn school uniform and the bruises covering her skin. The eldest Tendo sibling was obviously still upset, and even though she was trying to look bored, Ranma could see a scowl in Nabiki's eyes. His father, of course, didn't seem too interested. Ranma's fiance's father turned to look at him, fury burning in his gaze. "Ranma! How could you let this happen to my daughter?!" Ranma felt proud that he actually waited a few seconds before pointing calmly to the cast that was still on his dominant arm. It took a moment for Soun to realize what Ranma meant, at which he blushed and nodded his head before turning to look at Akane again. "Akane, what happened?"

Before Akane could respond, Ranma spoke up. "It was actually pretty awesome, Mr. Tendo. Right before we started school this guy I used to know showed up and challenged me to a fight. When I pointed out that I was injured, he was ready to fight me anyway, regardless of whether or not I was willing. That's Akane here butted in and took the challenge for me." That caught Genma's attention, and Ranma could see in Soun's eyes a silent question. Ranma leaned against the wall and looked at Akane, a mocking smile on his face. "Little Miss Martial Arts over here actually did pretty well. She gave as good as she got, and I know for a fact that the other guy is feeling just as bad as she is right now, if not worse."

The look of pride that filled Soun's face was blinding. He wrapped his daughter up in a tight hug. "Akane...you can't have any idea of how proud I am of you right now." His expression dampened a bit as he looked her up and down once more. "Are you sure you're okay?" She nodded at her father, and he accepted that. They stood there for a while, and Ranma let them.

Once they'd had their father-daughter bonding time or whatever Ranma cleared his throat and looked at his dad. "Pop, this whole thing gave me an idea: since you're all bent out of shape about me being out-of-commission for today and tomorrow, what if you started training Akane too? It'll give you something to do right now, Akane will be better prepared for stuff like today, and I'll have someone to spar with at my own level...ish."

Genma closed his eyes and scratched his head, making a big deal out of nothing as usual. Akane gave Ranma a fierce smile that made his stomach fill with butterflies. Ranma smiled back nervously. Finally his father let out a sigh, though it ended with a small grin. "I'll give you this, boy, that's probably the best idea you've had in your short life. Sure, it's not a great one or anything, but I like the sound of it anyway." He looked Akane in the eyes. "After dinner meet me in the dojo so I can get a good idea of what you can do right now. Tomorrow...the real fun begins."

-

Ranma and Akane walked to the dojo the next morning, early. Much earlier, in fact, than Ranma was used to waking up. He was yawning every couple of seconds, and it was starting to get on Akane's nerves. "So," he asked before letting out another yawn. "how did stuff go last night?"

"I have no idea," Akane admitted. "He checked to see how hard I could punch, how hard I could kick, how fast I could move, all sorts of stuff. I was getting kinda exhausted by the end of it, but he finally said that it was enough and told me to go to sleep. I wonder what kind of training he wants me to do..."

Her sentence trailed off as they entered the building and saw the interior had been shuffled around somewhat. Now there were weight of all different sizes littering the floor, with the only exception being a sparing mat that had been set up. Standing on the mat, looking somewhat impatient, was Genma. He gave Akane a predatory smile as they entered. "Good morning, my pupil. Last night it was very clear that your strength was your best asset, so today we're going to work on maximizing it." Then he looked at his son, his eyes displaying annoyance. "You're not gonna be here for it, boy. She's going to be getting sweaty and needs to stay focused, and I won't have you standing around making stupid comments and setting her off-balance. Go find somewhere else to play today. It's the weekend, have fun or something." Ranma was tempted to immediately leave in a huff, but instead he turned to Akane as extended his hand for a fist bump. She giggled, which he found enormously adorable, then returned the gesture.

With nothing to do really, Ranma walked back into the house and just kinda stood there for a while. It wasn't like he had any other friends, really. "Oh, Ranma, I didn't expect you to be up this early." Ranma turned sharply and found Kasumi standing a few feet from him, smiling pleasantly. Instead of asking her how the hell she managed to sneak up on him, Ranma smiled and said nothing. He didn't know much about Kasumi, but she seemed like a nice person. "Since you're awake, maybe you can help me with something," she said. "Would it be a problem if you went with me to the store? I have to pick up some things, and it's always nice to have company, especially at this time of the morning."

Ranma's brain ran in circles trying to find some excuse not to go before giving up. "Sure, let's go." As they walked out the door and into the street, it occurred to Ranma that he'd never really gone shopping. His pop never had the money for it, so the only stores they ever went to were convenience stores. He tried to look on the bright side, maybe he'd enjoy shopping...

-

It was several hours into Akane's new training regiment, and she now understood her fiance's distaste for Genma Saotome. He'd started out by having her do some standard strength training with weights that felt comfortable yet challenging. After that they sparred for a little while, then it went back to the weights but this time they felt twice as heavy as before. Then they sparred while she wore ankle weights. On and on it kept going, until finally she couldn't take it anymore. Akane was scared that she might pull a muscle, and managed to convince her overbearing trainer that a fifteen minute break was in order. Once he had begrudgingly relented, she sat down and just worked on steadying herself, on breathing. That's when she noticed something odd: a shadow in the dojo doorway.

"Is someone there?" Akane asked in the direction of the entrance. Genma turned from his inspection of the equipment and immediately saw the same shadow she had. After a few moments a teenage girl shuffled over enough for them to see her. She looked like she was around Akane's age, and her dark blue hair was hidden by a thick black woolen hat that was pulled down low. She was tall for a girl, and she had a pudgy build that showed through her green sweatshirt and blue jeans. Akane was also reasonably sure that the girl didn't go to her school. "What are you doing here? Did you come for training?" she asked, trying not to sound like she was too suspicious of the girl.

The girl was obviously very nervous, she couldn't seem to meet either of their eyes, and attempted to stutter out an answer. "Oh, uh, yeah, no. I, um, was," she paused for a second before sighing. Her voice had a somewhat nasal quality, and it was a little higher pitched than Akane had expected. "I was bored." The girl shuffled a little closer and bowed her head slightly, frowning. "I'm sorry for trespassing, I guess. I just didn't have much to do, and I was passing by, and I heard your sparing going on, and I think martial arts is really cool, and so I kinda snuck in."

"Ha!" Genma said, smiling widely. "Marital arts is 'really cool'? I think I like you, girl!"

Ignoring her fiance's father, Akane wiped some of the sweat beading down her forehead away and frowned at the girl's words. "It's the weekend. Don't you have friends to spend time with or something?" The girl looked down and shook her head. "Family?" Another shake of the head. Akane smiled at her. "Well then, why don't you stay a while longer." She walked up to the girl and extended her hand. "My name is Akane Tendo, it's nice to meet you."

To Akane's surprise, the girl finally met her eyes and gave her a small smile. For a brief second, Akane was sure that the girl's brown eyes flashed a shade of bright red. "My name is Inoshishi, but I prefer Ino."

-

It was now six hours into shopping, and one thing was imminently clear: Ranma Saotome did not, in fact, enjoy it. For the last five hours, as they moved from store to store, rarely actually purchasing anything, the teenage boy wanted nothing more than to tell Kasumi that they had done enough and that it was time to head home. However, every time he tried broaching the subject with her, she would turn and smile at him, completely innocent of how he was feeling. Ranma knew he wasn't exactly a saint, but he couldn't bring himself to cause Kasumi pain, no way.

After they finally exited what felt like the fifteenth fresh fruit stall that day, Kasumi turned to Ranma and said with a kind smile, "I think we have enough now Ranma, don't you?"

Instead of saying the biting remark that first popped into his head, Ranma nodded and followed her out of the market district and back towards their home. They walked in silence at first, Ranma thinking about stuff. It was weird for him, not being able to train. Martial Arts had been his live for as long as he could remember. And yet, regardless of that, he'd still actually been having fun. Now that he thought about it, Akane and him had rarely talked about martial arts. Instead, they talked about their family, life, school, news, tv shows, whatever.

"Do you love Akane, Ranma?" Kasumi asked nonchalantly. The question completely floored him, stopping him dead in his tracks. Kasumi let out a small giggle and added, "Sorry if I startled you, it's just something I've been wanting to ask you."

Ranma opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. His brain had short-circuited. What kind of question is that? Why did she care? Did he? Ranma had no answers, just a lot more questions. Finally, he managed to scramble together something vaguely resembling a coherent idea and spat it out. "I dunno, we enjoy eachothers company, we have good talks I guess. She's not entirely bad looking either, right?"

Despite his rambling jumble of thoughts, Kasumi's smile never wavered. "You're cute, Ranma. I think my sister likes you. I feel like, arranged or not, your marriage would be a loving one. It's okay if you don't know how you feel about her now, Ranma. You're both young. All you can do is try your best." Despite her facial expression not changing by a single muscle, Ranma could feel something actually dangerous coming from Kasumi as she spoke her next words. "And please, try to be a gentleman to her." All Ranma could do was nod weakly, and continue on their way.

-

Ranma didn't really know what to expect when he returned home and entered the dojo. Even then, the sight of Akane sitting on the floor as another girl talked to her, tears running down Akane's face as she laughed hysterically. "-I'm serious! That's what he said!"

"No way!" Akane responded, gasping for breath. "I, I can't," is all she could make out before once again descending into mad laughter. Ranma looked from this bizarre scene to his father, putting away the training equipment they had been using. Since Akane wasn't, y'know, working out, Ranma had expected his martial arts obsessed father to be at the very least annoyed, but instead he was smiling! What in Superman's bright red underwear was going on? As he stood there gawking at this scene, Akane finally noticed his entrance and turned to face him, struggling to keep her laughter under control. "Ranma! You're back!" She stood up, and Ranma tried not to focus on the fact he actually found her more attractive while sweaty. She looked at her guest and motioned for her to stand up too, and turned her to face him. "Ranma, this is my new friend Ino. Ino, Ranma!"

The girl was tall, nearly as tall as Ranma, and she filled out her frame with a pudgy build that Ranma had to admit to himself was actually kinda cute. That was what he though until he met her eyes. Ino was staring into his eyes with a glare so full of hatred that Ranma could almost see her brown eyes turning red. No, wait, they were! The girl's eyes glowed bright red, the exact hue shifting and changing like a flame. Then, as sudden as they had first changed they returned to their normal color. "Nice to meet you, Ranma," she said with far more cheer than she was clearly feeling.

"Same," Ranma said, his voice a little tense.

Apparently not having seen what just happened, Akane smiled at them both. "You two should talk more, get to know eachother. I've got to go take a shower. Bye!" With that Akane left, Genma following soon after. That left Ranma alone with the chunky girl who seemed to hate his guts.

They stood in awkward silence for nearly a minute. Ranma's impatience finally trumped his caution and he started to make some kind of opening remark, but before he could she grabbed him by his arm and flung him across the dojo. The thick wooden walls of the building creaked as he slammed into them, but they didn't break. As Ranma fell to the ground he managed to regain enough sense to land correctly, and face the charging girl head-on. "Saotome!" she shouted as she sprinted towards him, throwing a right jab as they met.

Ranma grabbed her first and pushed back with all his strength, but to his surprise she was easily meeting his strength. "What the hell is wrong with you? What'd I ever do to you?"

The girl's red eyes gleamed brighter, her scowl twisting into a savage snarl. Out of nowhere she started pushing harder, much harder. Ranma's defense broke and he was left stumbling back, not at all prepared for the push that sent him to the floor. She stood there, looking down at him with pure hatred in her eyes. Something in the back of his mind was nagging at him. This strength...that hatred..."You really don't recognize me, Ranma!?" she asked, nostrils flaring.

That's when it clicked. "Ryoga?!"

Her lips twisted into a sneering smile. "The one and only. Now die!"


	7. Stark Confessions! These Things Happen

As she walked back into the dojo after her shower, Akane carried a tray of sliced watermelon, a lunch made by Kasumi for her, Ino, and Ranma. In spite of her weary muscles and exhausted mind, Akane couldn't help but smile, brightly and widely. While she had a few friends at school, Akane had never been the most social of high schoolers, but Ino and her had hit it off since they'd met that morning, and with luck she and Ranma would have gotten along great in her absence. Akane paused for a moment halfway to the dojo, thinking about her new friend.

From what she had seen so far, Ino was timid, but under that shyness was a passionate person. When Ino laughed, it filled the room, and when she was feeling comfortable and secure she allowed herself to make bold declarations that split the air. And yet, some things hadn't really added up. Ino seemed to live on her own, and didn't go to high school. That wasn't unheard of, but she also seemed unfamiliar with Nerima, like she had moved here recently. Was she homeless?

When Akane finally moved into the large wooden building where she had trained all that morning, she came upon Ranma and Ino talked intently, their eyes focused and body's tensed. Ino's back was facing Akane, but Ranma met her eyes and said something quickly that Akane couldn't make out, and the two turned to face her, suddenly all smiles. "Hey, Akane!" Ranma said, his eyes quickly falling on the watermelon. "Whoa, did you make those! Sweet!"

Despite the fact she knew it was meant as a compliment, Ranma's comment stabbed at Akane as he spoke it. She's always been quietly disappointed that she herself had taken to cooking like a horse takes to flying, while her eldest sister was a culinary expert. She wasn't able to completely mask the momentary pain, but she quickly covered it up with a forced smile, and told him, "No, actually, it was Kasumi who made them. She thought we might want something to eat while we hang out."

It was clear from the way Ranma winced that he noticed her reaction, despite her best attempts to hide it, and for a brief second it looked as though Ino smiled predatorily, her eyes on Ranma, before her smile softened and she asked Akane, "Wait a minute, these are from her? Perfect Kasumi? The divine being that is your oldest sis?"

Akane sat down on a mat and set the tray in front of her, with Ranma and Ino quickly following suit and forming a circle around the food. Ino and Ranma grabbed two slice each so fast that Akane had trouble actually seeing their arms move, and she took one herself and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry if that's how I sounded when I talk about her. I love Kasumi, she's the best, but..."

It was clear from their faces as they ate that Akane had guessed right, confirming it as she took a bite herself: the watermelon was perfect. The balance of sweetness and moisture was an ambrosia in the mouth. Like always. Ranma paused for a moment, frowned, then scoffed. "Yeah, it's good, I guess, but your sister's not perfect. I just spent six hours shopping with her, and every time I tried to bring up the idea of going home, she managed to conversation judo us into another store. It ain't accidental, I can tell you that. Plus..." An odd look overtook Ranma's face, something like a mix of embarrassment and fear. "...she can be scary." His eyes met Akane's. "Not like you."

For a moment there was silence, as Akane felt her cheeks heat up, and she noticed all of a sudden Ranma was looking anywhere except at her. Trying to change the subject, she focused her gaze on Ino. "So, what did you guys talk about while I was gone? It looked pretty intense."

At first, it looked like the two of them froze into statues, their eyes meeting in some silent communication. Ino stumbled over her words a few times trying to start talking, but Ranma rudely interrupted Ino, his eyes locked on the shy girl. "Turns out we've got a shared interest in the caped crusader crowd. I was telling her that our own resident super-person, Doctor Light, could totally kick the ass of that winged rodent from Gotham." His eyes seemed to be saying something on their own to Ino as he finished, "Isn't that right, Ino?"

All of a sudden, Ino got a fierce look in her eyes, the hue of them almost seeming to change a little. "You're insane, Saotome! I don't care what kind of light show she puts on, Batman prepares for everything! Plus, everyone knows the Bat's Rogues Gallery! They've got name recognition! Doctor Light operates, like, twenty miles away. Can you name a single one of her regular foes?"

Instead of tripping up Ranma, that just seemed to make a victorious grin stretch across his face, as he drew up to a higher height. "All that means is she knows what she's doing. Unlike Gotham, Tokyo doesn't have a rampant supervillain problem. Why? Her. Bam!" The argument continued, but Akane drowned it out as she enjoyed the food, feeling better than she had in...a long time. In some ways, it didn't really make any sense. She was engaged to someone she had just met, someone laboring under a strange curse who could be a bit of an ass on occasion. She had spent the morning training harder than she had ever before in her life, under the tutelage of the man who was to become her father-in-law, a hard man who appeared to have little compassion in his heart, even for his only son.

And yet she was sitting here, with two people close to her age who were getting along, or at least trying to for her sake. They were friends. The rest of that afternoon passed by like a blur: they moved from the dojo into the house, then out to the city, walking around and having fun until the waning hours of twilight. It was then that Ino made it clear she had to leave, but she promised they would spend time together again Wednesday afternoon. Before Akane could ask why, she ran off into the night, much faster than her frame might have suggested was possible. With her gone, Ranma and Akane went back to their home, and despite several attempts to barb him into conversation Ranma remained taciturn. It was difficult for her to fall asleep that night, her mind uneasy as she turned over the events of that day in her head.

Ranma waited until an hour before midnight to sneak out of his room through the window and move to the edge of the Tendo property, at the entrance. Despite what his father sometimes claimed, Ranma was fairly skilled at moving around without being heard, and he was confident he hadn't made a sound in his journey. He heard the sound of feet on the street's pavement, and turned to see Ino, or rather, Ryoga walk up to him. She was wearing the same outfit she'd been wearing earlier, and for a moment Ranma wondered to himself where she had gotten it, before throwing the thought away to focus on that matter at hand.

"Okay, so, what are we going to do here?" Ino said, looking both angry and uncomfortable. "Are you just going to rat me out to Akane tomorrow? Or did you already do that, you two-faced piece of shit?"

For a moment Ranma's anger swelled withing him, and he couldn't stop himself from saying, "Actually I didn't, but maybe I'll go wake her up right now and let her know that her new best friend is the same person who beat the crap outta her the other day, the one who threatened to kill me." Ryoga's own anger flared visibly for a moment, before she slumped, looking tired and...something else. Ranma couldn't place the emotion. Ranma took a deep breath, and steadied his voice. "Listen, man, I don't get why you're so worked up. It was a stupid duel from when we were younger, who cares? Can you just let it go?"

"Let it go?!" Ryoga made sure to keep her volume low, but the fury in her words carried nonetheless. "I...you...Urgh!" With a flash, Ryoga stomped her foot towards Ranma's, which Ranma barely managed to dodge. A small crater was left in the pavement where her foot landed. "I don't care about that duel anymore, you idiot, I'm angry about this!" She gestured towards her body, from top to bottom, then removed her hat, revealing a pair a pig's ears poking out of her hair. "I got cursed because I followed you, because I was mad at you! I tried to many times to catch up to you, but I never did! When I finally got to Jusenkyo, whatever you did to piss off the locals got them hostile at me, too, and in trying to escape I fell into Zhuemonichuan, a spring where a pig demoness drowned centuries ago."

Ranma couldn't move his eyes from Ryoga's ears, even though he knew it was pissing her off even further. He looked over her again, and nodded. "Okay, yeah, I can see that." Then what she had actually said his Ranma, and he winced, audibly and visibly. "Listen, I'm sorry, man. I didn't know you were going to follow me, but more than that I'm really sorry about what happened at Jusenkyo. What happened there..." Ranma shuddered just thinking about it. "I'm sorry that mess ended up affecting you too, man. But I got cursed too, I've thought about trying to find a way to cure my curse. If we worked together-"

"No," Ryoga replied, cutting Ranma off mid-sentence. The word didn't carry nearly as much anger as Ranma had expected, more than that she just sounded...tired. "Not right now, Ranma. You're lucky I don't tear your damn spine out through your mouth." The way she said it, almost casually, Ranma was sure that she could do it. "For some reason, Akane likes you, and she's my friend now. So I won't kill you...right now. But we need to set up some ground rules, right here, right now. Can we agree on a truce as long as Akane is around, and at her family's house in general? And you have to promise not to tell Akane that I'm Ryoga!"

It wasn't the agreement Ranma wanted, but it seemed like it was all he was going to get, for now at least. He extended his hand with a sigh, but he did not. "Okay, I'll shake on that. I promise to keep the truce, and to keep your stupid secret," Ranma couldn't help himself from adding, "Ino-chan," as Ryoga shook his hand, sealing the deal. To his immense surprise, Ranma didn't even see Ryoga move, and suddenly he was in the air, her hands on his shirt. She was lifting him up three feet off the ground, murder in her eyes. Ranma just gave her a wink and said, "I'm still on Tendo property, Ino-chan. We did agree to a truce, right?" Ranma even threw in a wink for good measure.

To be honest with himself, Ranma was putting on a brave face. It nearly broke for a moment, when it felt like he saw the idea of just snapping Ranma's neck appear in Ryoga's eyes, but it was immediately replaced with shame, and she set him down, and walked away without a word. Ranma went back to bed, happy to have lived through that, and wondering what the hell had happened to his life.


	8. R-R-R-Ranma! He's Good For Nothin!

By the time Ranma woke up on Sunday, the sun was already halfway up the sky, and her clock read 10:00. Stretching as she yawned, Ranma looked at her previously injured arm and flexed it, then with an effort of will moved it against the cast, shattering the brace. "Sweet!" she said to herself. "100% again!" She left the room where she slept and moved her gaze around the house. She couldn't see anyone, and could barely hear the sounds of muffled activity from the dojo outside. With nothing better to do on her day off, Ranma walked over to the building and looked inside, seeing her fiance sitting and lifting weights, her body already covered in a layer of sweet. Her father was nearby, observing his student with less of the perverted gaze Ranma had expected, the look much more similar to how he watched Ranma when they had trained together.

Akane caught Ranma's staring, and went to set her weights down before the old man barked out, "Don't stop, girl! Continue with the weights, I'll talk with my son." Ranma's father walked towards the entrance, and she scowled at his approach. Once he was face to face with her, they glared at each other tensely. "Don't give me that look, **boy**. The second day of intense training is even more important than the first. If she doesn't work her fullest today, all her work from before will have meant nothing!"

It took all of Ranma's efforts not to sucker punch her father right then and there, so instead of violence she settled with rolling her eyes and looking angrily at him. "Oh yeah, pops? Didn't you tell me you were going to train me today, what with my fixed arm and all?"

The middle-aged man's eyes moved to her arm, seeing it good as new. He frowned and closed his eyes. "I see…so I was right." He let out a sigh, then said, "Regardless, I'm still not training you today."

Ranma's temper surged forward, and she took a step towards her father. "Did you lose even more marbles, old man? Weren't you freaking out before about not being able to train me? I thought you were excited to see what my girl form could do!"

"That was before I started working with Akane," Genma said, smiling. "I'm not saying I'll never follow up on that idea, but let me tell you Ranma, I'd forgotten how much fun it is to work with a blank slate again." He let out a rolling laugh, his grin widening. "It makes me feel young again!"

Her temper at a boiling point, Ranma turned and stalked away, only stopping to shout over her shoulder, "Well then, I'll leave you to your nostalgia, pops! I see I'm not wanted here!" as she walked. Once inside the house, Ranma paused, fuming with rage, before realizing she really didn't have any idea how to spend her day.

"I've got to say, Saotome, that was quite the show," came an impressed voice from another room before Nabiki Tendo walked in, a smirk on her face. "Your father's quite the piece of work, isn't he?"

Barely able to think through the fire raging inside her head, Ranma only managed to mutter, "That's one way of puttin' it," under her breath.

Something in Nabiki's smile changed, making the expression seem more predatory, before she asked Ranma, "You don't have anything going on today then, I take it?" Still stewing in her rage, Ranma just shook her head sharply as a reply. "That's great! I thought, since you're engaged to my baby sister and all, that we could spend some quality time together."

Even though Genma told Akane that she'd been training for only three hours, to her it felt as though she'd been exercising for days on end. At that exact moment, her arms burned and her muscles screamed as she performed a set of brutal punches and jabs over and over while wearing fifteen kilo weights on her wrists. Trying to occupy her mind and release some of her pent-up frustration with the middle-aged man at the same time, she pointedly asked Genma as she worked out, "Mr. Saotome, why do you hate Ranma?"

She watched as the question hit him: Genma's face looking stunned one moment then furious the next. "Who ever said I hated the boy? He's a moron, a weakling, and a coward for sure, but he's my flesh-and-blood! Did he tell you this nonsense?"

Without looking at him, Akane replied while still working her tired muscles, "No, Ranma never said that. But the way you treat her, the way you treat him…it's not any way a father should treat their child."

Akane was actually shocked that her last barbed remark didn't set him to shouting and throwing a temper tantrum. Instead his face suddenly looked very calm, almost remote, as if he had found some inner zen. "Just follow through with what I showed you yesterday for another hour, okay? Same routine, same weight progression. You can stop early if you want, but if you do you won't get nearly as strong as if you continue." Then he simply walked out of the dojo, leaving Akane alone in the building, feeling both righteously satisfied and embarrassed beyond all belief for her verbal assault on Genma Saotome..

From what Akane had told Ranma before about her sister, she was fairly sure at first that Nabiki's idea of 'quality time' would include a camera and the taking off of clothes. What she had not expected was to be sitting at a cafe hours later, wearing a casual yet risque dress, talking with some rich foreigner, and listening to Nabiki's instructions through a wireless earpiece easily obscured with Ranma's hair.

"So, what is it exactly that you do?" Ranma asked, smiling cutely at the man.

First, the cafe: it was some expensive, high-end place in Nerima's commercial district. Honestly, despite the fact that she was currently sitting in the place, enjoying a hot chocolate served in a tea cup that cost more money than she or her father had on them any time she could remember, Ranma could not remember the name of the business to save her life.

The foreigner shrugged. "A little of this, a little of that," he replied in passable Japanese. "It's honestly a little hard for me to settle down and actually work on any one project, you know? How about you?"

Second, the dress: it was a burgundy piece that Nabiki was apparently renting for just this occasion. The color played well with Ranma's vibrant red hair, and the neckline was high enough to be suitable for everyday wear while being low enough to be enticing to anyone with eyes on her chest. The lower parts of the dress were separated into a front and back area, showing off just a hint of Ranma's legs, and ensuring that if a fight were somehow to break out that she'd be ready and able to kick ass and take names. Honestly, the entire thing just made her feel badass and sexy, and if it hadn't been worth so much Ranma would really have wanted to keep it, with the hope that she didn't throw it out the second she was a guy.

"Tell him you're planning on going to university to study engineering," Nabiki's voice whispered in Ranma's ear.

Third, the foreigner: he was from America, a rich kid Ranma's age that Nabiki somehow knew was going to be in this cafe at this time, and who showed no resistance at all when Ranma invited him to her table. His name started with a "Te-", but to be honest with herself Ranma hadn't really cared all that much. He was clearly in-shape, had a clean-shaven and nicely angular face with thick, brown hair to match it. Ranma didn't deny to herself that she found him attractive, nor that he was an able conversationalist.

Ranma idly took a sip of steaming hot delicious cocoa before she gave her answer. "Nothing too special, really. I'm still in high school, but I'll be heading to whatever university will take me to study engineering, believe it or not."

Fourth and finally, the earpiece: Nabiki had been insistent that it stay in at all times, and to keep this guy sitting next to her and talking until she gave the signal to break things off. So far all her advice had worked without a hitch. So far Nabiki had told Ranma what to order, how to sit, what fake name to use, and what information to feed the guy. Even though Ranma had no clue whatsoever what she was doing, the entire time her heart was racing, the entire experience feeling like something from an American spy film.

Her reply made the man grin ear-to-ear, and a spark seemed to light in his eyes. "Really?" he asked excitedly, before seemingly calming down a bit. "I suppose you're going into civil engineering, or something like mechanical engineering, right?"

As the man was talking, Ranma listened to what Nabiki was already telling her to say. "Actually, no. I'm more of an innovator type, or at least I'd like to be. There's just so many untapped ideas out there, right?"

"Okay Ranma, ditch the yuppie, we're golden," Nabiki murmured in Ranma's ear.

Ranma was a little sad to end it all here, so instead of excusing herself right away she listened to what the man was saying. "That's great to hear!" he told her with a blinding smile. He pulled out a business card and handed it to her. "I've actually got to get going, but make sure to call me sometime! That's my personal number, so be careful with it, okay?" Ranma nodded, then watched as he pulled out a ten-thousand yen note from his wallet and threw it at the table. "That should cover your drink, and they can keep the change. See you around, Ms. Shiva." And with that the handsome stranger left the cafe, leaving Ranma sitting there, looking at his business card.

"Ted Kord, huh?" she asked herself, thinking deeply. "That name rings a bell…"

Ryoga was not happy. Of course, considering the course his life had taken these last several years, Ryoga was rarely ever happy these days. Yesterday had been an exception, though…with a shake of his head he banished those thoughts from his head. That had been Ino's happiness. Akane Tendo was her friend now. Not his. Ryoga wasn't really paying attention to where he was going when he accidentally stumbled into a young woman around his age in a beautiful dress. He stammered out an apology to the red-haired girl. "I'm so sorry, I should have watched where I was going…" Then he got a better look at the girl: at her hairstyle, the way the back was tied into a braid. A very familiar braid.

"Yeah, you really shoulda watched where you were going. Man, and I was in a good mood too…" the girl murmured, and the way she talked sealed it for Ryoga.

Red-hot fire obscured his thoughts as it burned through his mind. "Ranma!" he shouted, unable to stand the sight of the girl. He rose to his feet as she did, his eyes locked on hers. Just as he had recognized Ranma, she had recognized him. Her eyes roved over his body for a moment, conflict appeared in her eyes.

"Ryoga, we called a truce yesterday, remember?" she asked him, her voice communicating a profound annoyance. "Or are you so stupid you forgot already?"

He took a deep breath, using it to steady himself enough to speak instead of assaulting her immediately. "That only applies when we're at Akane's house, or when she's around, Ranma. You know that." For some reason, as he looked at her, part of him didn't want to fight Ranma. He was raised as a proper Osakan boy, and he had been brought up knowing that fighting girls was wrong. But this was Ranma…

While he was thinking the issue over, Ranma moved quicker than Ryoga had ever seen Ranma move before and swept a leg under his feet, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling back to the ground. Okay, Ryoga decided, moral debate over. By the time he had gotten back on his feet, Ranma had used the time she had bought to back away a few feet, giving herself enough room to attack or dodge as she needed. Passerby were either watching now, interested in the scuffle, or walking around it.

His rage guiding his movements, Ryoga dashed forward with a powerful punch aimed at Ranma's solar plexus, but before he had even come close to closing the distance she had leapt up, vaulted over his head, and landed with a spin behind him. "Geese, Ryoga, when did you get so slow? It's like I'm fighting a snail!" Then she cutely stuck her tongue out at him.

No, not cutely. This was Ranma, Ryoga reminded himself. Knowing that rushing again would be a fool's errand, Ryoga took a deep breath and stood his ground. Ryoga knew Ranma was impatient, and apparently that was one thing that didn't change every four days. Within a few seconds of waiting, Ranma scowled and went on the attack, moving to punch Ryoga in his face. He didn't even try blocking it, taking the blow and grabbing her arm instead. The blow hurt, but it was nothing Ryoga hadn't felt before. Bending backwards, Ryoga tossed Ranma through the air as hard as he could at a nearby building. To his annoyance she braced her impact with coiled feet and used them to push herself into a jump: a jump at Ryoga. She crashed into him and they both tumbled to the ground, bruised and sweating. Ranma's face was inches from his, her eyes dazed in a way that Ryoga was sure his own were. For a moment, she looked quite beautiful, and he had the distinct urge to kiss her. He was blushing. So was Ranma.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" came a chant from someone in the watching crowd, and the call was taken up by others as the whole crowd began demanding for a make-out session between the two fighters. Before Ryoga could do anything Ranma scowled, got to her feet, flipped the crowd off, and darted away, leaving Ryoga a confused, angry, upset heap on the ground.

"What took you so long?" Nabiki asked, her eyes glued to her laptop screen as she sat on her bed. Ranma had just entered the room via window and looked like she'd just ran a marathon and fought a bear. Which, considering what she knew of her soon-to-be brother/sister-in-law, was entirely possible.

It looked as though Ranma did not want at all to discuss what happened after the cafe, and instead she asked Nabiki, "So, not to complain or anything, but what was the point of me talking up that Kord guy?"

Just the question Nabiki had been hoping for. With a smile of pure victory, Nabikit tuned her laptop's screen around so Ranma could see an online bank account she had open in a browser. An online bank account with a checking balance with seven digits of American dollars. As Ranma looked at the screen, mouth agape, Nabiki took the chance to reach into a hidden pocket of her dress and pullout a small electronic device. "The point was giving me enough time to rip his credit card's info with this beauty here. With that, I was able to get into the account the card is connected to. Congratulations, Ranma, you've made me a millionaire."

For a moment, it looked as if the revelation had fried poor Ranma's puny brain. "I…you…millions…"

Casting an eye on the expensive dress Ranma was wearing, in particular how wet it was with sweat, how dirty the stains were, and how large the tears on it were, Nabiki gave her a winning smile. "Don't worry about that dress, Ranma honey. I'll pay it off and buy a new one, just for you. Consider it your payment."

The girl looked simultaneously delighted and guilty as sin. "Isn't this, I don't know, kinda messed up, Nabiki? We just robbed a guy blind!" Then Ranma's eyes widened in horror. "What if we get caught? I don't want to get sent to jail!"

Nabiki rolled her eyes at Ranma's dramatics. "I know my stuff, Saotome. I'm funneling to money into private accounts, then investing it in…you know what, nevermind, you're not going to understand anyway. Let's just say no one can possibly figure out it was us, and Teddy's not going to miss the money that much anyway, he's rich as sin anyway." Her logical argument didn't seem to cheer Ranma up very much, so Nabiki rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll buy you something else, happy now?"

All that doubt and morality seemed to drain away in an instant from Ranma's face. What a winner Akane had picked up. "Hmm, how about a gift card to an ice cream place?" Ranma asked with a smile. She watched as Nabiki pulled up an online store and purchased a high-end ice cream maker, to be delivered right to their home. Ranma pouted.

"Give a girl ice cream she'll be happy for a day," Nabiki said, trying to sound wise, "Teach a girl to make ice cream, she'll be happy for a lifetime." After that was said and done, Ranma spent a little more time chatting with Nabiki before leaving. She could tell that the martial artist still wasn't entirely sure how to feel about her, but Nabiki was satisfied, for now, with what she had observed of the girl. She wasn't sure if Ranma was good enough for Akane, but at the very least they'd be good for entertainment.

Later that night, Ranma and Akane were in her room, working on school assignments. To Akane's surprise, Ranma seemed a little less hesitant with the idea, and after a few hours it looked like she was making steady progress in English. "Man, why do we even have to learn this," Ranma asked with a sigh and a pout. "It's not like I'm ever going to use this stuff."

The comment made Akane scowl. "Ranma, that's your dad talking. It's important to learn what you can, and you'll be surprised how useful some of this stuff can be. For example, what if you ever get to go to England, or the United States? Learning English even a little would be pretty useful then, right?"

The idea seemed to spark something in Ranma, who suddenly asked Akane, "Why's your sister so weird?"

The question was too vague. "Which one?" Akane loved her family dearly, but sometimes it felt like she was the only sane one under the roof.

"Nabiki," Ranma supplied. "She's got a money fetish or whatever, and she can do some stuff that I'm pretty sure they don't teach at school, y'know?"

She was preaching to the choir. Akane just shrugged. "I don't really know. Ever since…" the words hung in the air before she continued, "…she's been really closed off from the rest of us. I wish I knew what she was spending all her time on…"

anythinggoesThe transfers are almost complete.

anythinggoesYou were right about the time and place, as always.

anythinggoesI sent your payment to the usual account.

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==great

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==you know you can always move up

anythinggoesMeaning?

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==your talents

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==you could do a lot better than the odd job here and there

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==more exciting too

anythinggoesThanks but no thanks.

anythinggoesNo offense, but I can't take that kind of heat.

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==family?

anythinggoesFamily.

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==okay

Y2FsY3VsYXRvcg==option always open

anythinggoesGoing to bed.

anythinggoesMessage me when you've got another job, Noah.


	9. Goodbye, Genma

It wasn't until halfway through his rushed morning breakfast that Ranma realized someone was missing from the Tendo household. As he began to look around, Akane caught on and verbalized his question. "Where's Mr. Saotome?" At that question, the entire family stopped, looked around, and realized that the middle-aged bald man who usually devoured meals messily around them was nowhere to be seen.

The head of the household scratched his head, frowning. "I haven't seen him since yesterday, now that you mention it Akane." The worry disappeared from Soun Tendo's face as it was replaced with a lackadaisical grin. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, the man likes to wander but he needs to eat." They resumed breakfast, and in under a minuted Ranma and Akane had finished their food and were out the door.

As the two teenagers walked down the street towards their high school, Ranma's occasional glances at Akane noticed something odd: she was frowning, and was looking off in the distance, her eyes unfocused. Ranma let out a sigh. "What did I do this time?"

The question startled her, and when her eyes met his there was a touch a red to her cheeks. "Oh, um, nothing, sorry Ranma." Then she pointedly avoided looking at him, her blush growing in intensity.

"Cut the crap, Akane," he snapped. The response startled her, and Akane looked at Ranma to see his gaze haughty. "Somethin's on your mind, and I wanna know what it is. Don't give me none of that 'it's nothing' garbage. I've got eyes." As he spoke, the heat left his voice but the intensity remained.

Akane swallowed, for a moment a little scared of the boy walking beside her, and realized he was right: it was useless to try avoiding this. "I think I might be the reason your father's gone."

That certainly had Ranma's undivided attention. Unable to stop himself, he immediately asked, "You've got a way to make my dad go away? Can you keep doing it?"

"That's not funny, Ranma," she said in a low voice, her eyes starting to look watery. "Yesterday, while he was training me, I got upset at him, and I asked him why he hated you." That stopped Ranma cold, and she watched as he looked at her, confused. "I...I know he probably doesn't, but I couldn't take it anymore. The way he treats you...it isn't right. He's a terrible influence on you. But after he realized what I meant, he just left. I think that's why he's gone now." Ranma's face was unreadable, oddly stoic, and tears began to fall down Akane's face. "I'm...I'm so sorry Ranma."

Akane looked at her fiance, nervously waiting for any kind of response, only to be confused as he shrugged. "My pop wants to play hooky, that's on him, not you. Come on, let's get to class." He started walking again, and Akane numbly followed him. "I actually really like that you're training more Akane. My pops is a complete nut, but he's right, you've got amazing potential." For the rest of the walk Ranma drove the conversation, keeping it positive and light, and by the time they were seated for first period Akane was smiling again.

"Your girl day was yesterday? That's a complete rip-off!" Hiroshi complained during lunch break. He and Daisuke had become casual friends of Ranma, though he wondered if it had more to do with his female alter ego than his charming wit. "That means your next one's gonna be...Thursday? This blows."

The three teenager boys were spending their break in the classroom, eating food around Ranma's desk. Ranma used to his chopsticks to flick a single grain of rice at Hiroshi, hitting his square in the open eyeball. "Glad to know I'm appreciated. How about I just don't show up to school unless I'm sporting the twins, does that work better for you?"

While Hiroshi clutched at his eyes and cried out in pain, either playing it up for laughs or genuinely that hurt, Ranma didn't really know or care, Daisuke tried to cover for his more loose lipped friend. "It's not that we don't like you, Ranma, you know we think you're a cool guy. I mean, you kicked Kuno's ass, that's gotta count for something, right? It's just that you're different as a girl."

Feeling brave enough to chime in, Hiroshi added, "Yeah, it's like you're still really badass, but you're also super cute and you act differently. Tell us the truth, what's it like on your girl days?"

For a moment, Ranma had to strain to show nothing on his face, as inside he took the compliment to his girl form with a flutter in his chest and a fierce surge of pride in his cuteness. Then he fought those feelings down, coughed, and said, "It's, uh, y'know...hey, did you know Akane's a martial artist too?" He brought up, trying to change subjects.

Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Of course we know that, Ranma. We've seen her fight Kuno all the time, not to mention that guy with the umbrella last week." He brought a hand up to his hair, and scratched as he head and he looked at Ranma pensively. "Who exactly was that guy? You never told us."

Happy to be able to vent about something, Ranma launched into a tirade. "His name's Ryoga. We went to junior high together, the guy's the biggest moron I've ever met. He's got no sense of direction, the temper of a bull, and he's been stalking me over some dumb fight we were supposed to have years ago."

The two friends laughed at that, though it faded quickly. "Yeah, but wasn't he talking about killing you? No disrespect man, but it kinda looked like he might be capable of it."

Unable to stop himself, Ranma immediately started laughing, tears forming in his eyes. "Ryoga...kill me..." he fell out of his chair, his hands clutching at his sides. "My ribs...oh my poor ribs...he might kill me just from the thought of it..." Once he was able to restrain his giggles, Ranma got back into his chair and smiled. "Ryoga's a drama queen, plain and simple. He loves shouting at things like, 'I'm going to kill you!' and 'You're going to die for this!' but he's just a hothead. Honestly, he's such a dope I don't think he'd be able to actually kill me."

The lunch break ended soon afterwards, but as his English class began Ranma's thoughts drifted to his old classmate, and wondered exactly what was going to happen next. As much as he wanted to laugh it all off, Ryoga seemed extra angry this time, and what he'd said about the locals had been true. Ranma shuddered at the thought of that night, but still he wondered if Ryoga was going to be pissy about it forever. Then Ino's face flashed in his mind for a second, and instead of fear, he felt...a flutter? Of fear. Obviously. A flutter of fear. That's what he was feeling when he thought about her. After all, who wouldn't be terrified of a cute, pig demoness?

Despite Ranma's dread at the pop quiz the class faced in math, he looked down at his marked result in astonishment. "I...didn't fail." Sure, he hadn't gotten a fantastic score, but he'd passed.

Akane beamed at him as they began to exit the school building. "All that studying is starting to pay off! I'm sure I'll have you acing tests in no time." It was clear that this minor victory meant just as much to her as it did to him, if not more.

"I wouldn't bet on that one, Akane. I'm still-" he found his words trailing off as the two of them, as well as all the other students leaving school for the day, found a surprising sight in front of them: a young man in traditional robes, wielding a wooden sword, his gaze focused and intense.

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee!" As his rich brogue filled the air, Kuno's eyes bored into Ranma's, a hatred that seemed almost pure radiating out to him. "I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."

Ranma scratched his head. "Uh, what? Is that supposed to mean something, or were you having a stroke?" He silently passed his backpack and school supplies to Akane and moved forward, out of the crowd, to face his opponent.

A vein appeared on Kuno's head, and he spat out, "Yes, you **dolt**. It's Shakespeare!"

The response just made Ranma even more confused. Making a big deal of his befuddlement, Ranma asked, "Shakes-who?"

The kendo athlete lowered his sword a little, exasperation and confusion beginning to overtake anger. "William Shakespeare! The greatest poet in history! Father of the English language!"

"Sorry, Kuno my man, I don't know much about English. I've read, like, maybe a few manga before. Glad you like Shakesword though, everyone needs a hobby." To all but Kuno himself, at this point it became clear that Ranma was mocking the poor, clueless thespian.

Oddly enough, it seemed as though Kuno was not going to let the point go. "It's from Macbeth. The quote, I mean. It's the dagger speech, the speech where Macbeth decides to take action and kill his enemy." As the words tumbled out, the fire sparked again in his voice.

Of course, Ranma was never one to miss an opportunity to burst a bubble. "Why'd you say it then? Did you get cast in a play?"

"No!" Kuno shouted, clearly unhappy with how this was turning out. "I did not get cast in a play! I'm saying it because you are my enemy, Ranmaku Saotome, and I am taking action against you! It's poetic!"

Out of nowhere, Ranma broke into a dead sprint, running straight at Kuno. Before anyone knew what was happening, Ranma had closed the distance and was throwing a punch at Kuno's face, only to find it blocked by the side of Kuno's kendo sword at the last moment. The two pushed against each other for a few moments before Ranma retreated, jumping back far enough that he hoped would give him enough time to dodge any strikes Kuno had in him next. "Come on, Kuno, didn't we already do this? Did my punch knock the memory outta your fancy head?"

Almost before the last word had left his mouth, Ranma found himself jumping to the right to avoid a lunge and thrust by his opponent. Once safely out of the way Ranma allowed himself a few flips, now ending up on the opposite ending of the school's courtyard. Kuno's eyes were trained on him, and before Ranma had time to breathe the swordsman rushed forward again, his sword slashing vertically, yet moving slow enough that Ranma had enough time to jump to a nearby tree, to the fence, then to the opposite end of the area once again. "Our previous fight was a draw, one in which we both walked away hit. I would like this matter settled, Ranmaku, and when I defeat you I **will** see your sister again."

So that's how it was, Ranma thought. Well, if that's how he was playing this, then it was time to play hard ball. Just as Kuno ran towards him again, Ranma copied the gesture, matching his opponent's pace. Ranma's mind was racing: they were going to meet in the middle, and so far he'd just a stab and a vertical slash. Praying he'd guessed right, Ranma slipped into a slide just before Kuno slashed out horizontally with his sword, the wooden blade passing inches above Ranma's head. As the momentum carried him, Ranma slipped underneath Kuno and delivered one strike just as he passed under the swordsman: a solid punch to his most sensitive area. Ranma turned quickly, ready for more, only to find his opponent on the ground spasming in pain, his sword fallen to the ground.

Feeling happy with how that had gone down, Ranma allowed himself a smarmy smile, only to feel it fall away as someone from the assembled crowd yelled, "Boo! Cheap shot!"

Frowning, Ranma walked up to his fallen opponent and met eyes with him. "I win, you lose, **period**. You're never going to date my sister because I don't have a sister, you idiot. Have you actually talked to anyone else in this school? I've got a magic curse on me, I'm a girl one out of every four days. And let me tell you now: I'm never giving you a chance. Even when I like guys, you're not my type." The whole speech was delivered quietly, so only they could hear it.

"You...lie..." Kuno hissed, but Ranma could see the hamster starting to turn the wheel in his head.

Ranma slapped his cheek a little before walking away. "You keep telling yourself that, Kuno." The crowd dispersed, and Akane joined Ranma in their walk home. Akane looked satisfied with the encounter, and Ranma flashed her a quick smile as they left the school grounds. "Well, I don't think we'll need to worry about him anymore."

No amount of mochi ice cream was helping Kuno's pain, a rarity for him. He rarely indulge in the treat, after all it was not the food of a champion athlete, but occasionally a god should be allowed some of his ambrosia. Nonetheless, his mood refused to rise, and he knew the cause. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, Ranmaku...Ranma...was correct. He had one, and he clearly was indeed the red-headed lass Kuno had been so taken with.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over Kuno and the table he sat eating at. Irritated to be interrupted, he looked up to see a shabby man far past the prime of his life looking down at him through a pair of glasses. "What do you want? I am in no mood to speak with you, old man."

Despite Kuno's clear dismissal, the man refused to leave. Instead, he sat in the seat opposite Kuno and smiled at him, the sun now shining off the white bandana tied around his head. "Oh, I don't know about that. How would you like to be able to defeat Ranma Saotome?"

The question raised Kuno's eyebrows. "The idea isn't unappealing. But why should you be able to help me in this task? I am a warrior already, old man."

"Ha!" came a bark of laughter from the fool. "Give me a week and Ranma won't stand a chance against you. I should know, after all, I am the one who trained him." He extended a hand to Kuno, the skin of it calloused and rough. "I'm Genma Saotome, and I'm going to help you teach my son a lesson he won't forget."


	10. Ranma Meets Go Head-On!

Another day without Genma, another happy day for Ranma. After the fight yesterday he and Akane went home, and Ranma watched as she trained for a few hours. As her request he didn't jump in to help, instead he was quiet when she requested so and supplied conversation when she allowed it. From there they went to dinner, enjoyed a small amount of visiting with the Tendo's, then retreated upstairs to Akane's room. That night they focused on Ranma's history, and by the time the two went to bed Ranma felt slightly more confident and both their homework assignments had been finished.

The next day, for the first time since Ranma had moved in with the Tendo family, he was able to enjoy a normal day at school. While some part of him felt a little antsy, the routine he'd established chafing his ego, on the whole Ranma found the experience novel and relaxing. No wandering the world, no attacks from other martial artists, no arguments between friends. Just some book-learnin', hanging out with friends, and walking to and from school with Akane. All and all, it was nice.

When they once again reached the Tendo household, and Akane started towards the dojo to continue her strength training, Ranma began to follow her, but she stopped him with a raised hand. "Actually, Ranma, I wanted to try this by myself, today. Is that okay?" she asked, her tone making it clear the decision was made, she just wanted to hear his thoughts on it.

Ranma's first reaction was something dark and ugly, a pang of something he didn't want to name. It was almost immediately covered up by his pride. "What am I, your baby-sitter? I'll be fine on my own, you have fun training. I'll see you at dinner." He hadn't meant for his remarks to be as dismissive as they came out, but before he could apologise Akane retreated, leaving Ranma alone in the Tendo dining room.

As Ranma watched Akane walk away, unhappy with how that had played out, he heard from behind him, "Ah, Ranma my boy." Jumping a little, he turned to see Akane's dad had just entered, a go board in his hand. Mr. Tendo actually gave Ranma a smile, which he hadn't been expecting, and said, "Care for a game of Go?"

"Sure, I guess," Ranma said, mirroring Akane's father as he sat down at the table, setting down the board and retrieving wooden bowls full of stones. One bowl had white stones, the other black, and as he looked between them and the board Ranma decided to bring something up. "You're gonna have to tell me the rules, I've never played before."

He frowned at that, mumbling, "Saotome always was more of a Shogi player, I suppose..." Then his eyes met Ranma's again, and he smiled. There was something sad about Akane's dad when he smiled, something in his eyes, like he was only half in the moment. He cleared his throat, then began explaining the rules to Ranma. They each pick a color, play stones, capture opponents, take territory.

Once Ranma felt he had gotten the gist of it, he was surprised to see Mr. Tendo push the bowl of black stones towards him. "I get to go first?" Ranma asked, and watched as Akane's father nodded in assent. Ranma didn't know much about games, but he knew at least a little about strategy, and the most important thing he'd ever been taught was this: going first is the biggest advantage in the world, in fights and games. Ranma placed a black stone near the center of the board, thinking it would be a highly prized position. He was expecting to see a white stone on its border as a response...but instead he watched Mr. Tendo start off in a corner, near his side of the table. In an instant, Ranma placed a black stone adjacent to the white, ready to go on the offensive. Ranma knew, he had this.

Akane did not have this. It had been three days since Mr. Saotome had set up Akane with her training program, and despite all the progress she'd made it now felt like she had hit a brick wall. With every passing day she had been blazing past the limits she always thought she had, to the point where she could now easily bench-press weights that were twice her upper limit a week ago. Her body felt like a coiled spring, and while she saw little difference externally in her battered arms, she knew the strength that now lay within.

But the entire routine she'd been working on had been about escalation. Start with weights that challenged you, work with them a ton, then add more, lather, rinse, repeat. It had been grueling, sometimes almost torturous, but somehow it had produced real results. But here she was, doing a series of fluid kata while wearing as much weight as was available...and she couldn't break a sweat. If she wanted to go farther, she needed to think through how this was working. That was the big issue here, wasn't it: none of this actually made any sense.

After walking over to the dojo wall, grabbing a water bottle, and starting to rehydrate herself, Akane looked at her arm and started really thinking. It had never occurred to her before, but her, Ryoga, even Ranma all were as strong, or stronger, than many bodybuilders. But where was the muscle mass? She hadn't gained any weight from muscles since beginning training, and it wasn't like her new fiance or his old frenemy were bursting their shirts by flexing themselves. By definition, physical strength came through have more muscle, in density, volume, or both. More than that, no one could get this strong this fast. That wasn't how it worked.

But no matter how much Akane's rational mind kept telling her that this was impossible, the results spoke for themselves. Irrational as it may seem to her, Akane couldn't deny that for some reason, this sort of training just...worked. So, if with enough time and effort she'd become used to all her previous weights, enough that she was out of weights, maybe she should try something bigger?

Ranma had made a terrible, terrible mistake. As he stared down at the Go board, white stones having completely cordoned off large swathes of the board, black stones almost entirely wiped out, he tried to think through where he went wrong. Mr. Tendo's moves hadn't made any sense. Ranma kept trying to encircle his stuff, and for a while he was succeeding, but while he was doing that Mr. Tendo was making weird formations with his stones, then using them to wall off and encircle everything Ranma had. Ranma tried to counterattack, but by the time he realized what was happening it was too late. Ranma raised a black stone...but there was nowhere to place it.

"I think that's game, Ranma," came Mr. Tendo's voice, and Ranma looked up from the board to see he was smiling warmly at him, a hand outstretched. Hoping there was some escape, Ranma looked down at the board again, but there was nothing to be done. Swallowing his pride, he took the hand and shook it. Whatever expression was showing on Ranma's face at that moment must have been quite something, as it compelled a hearty chuckle from Akane's father. "You've got more of your father in you than you realize."

No matter how the comment was intended, it sent a sharp stab into Ranma's heart. His expression became much darker, and he muttered to himself, "That explains so much..."

It was clear that Mr. Tendo caught the words, and he let out a slow sigh. "I didn't mean it like that. Genma..." he paused, searching for the correct word, "...is a prickly man. It's rare for him to get along with anyone, and even those he holds close he constantly pushes away. You needn't take it personal, my boy. I've known him since we were teenagers, it has always been his way."

That did little to mollify Ranma's sour mood. "Mr. Tendo, I don't wanna be rude or nothin', but how can you stand my pop? Look at you! You've got a nice house, your own dojo, a family...all my pop has is me and the clothes we're wearing, and half of those he stole!"

From his face, it looked as though Akane's father wasn't sure if he should laugh or take this more seriously, but he soon focused on the latter. Choosing his words quite carefully, he asked Ranma, "Has your father ever told you about our master? The founder of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts?" His curiosity piqued, Ranma shook his head. "I thought not. He was...a monster. Depraved, both towards the world and his students, his malignancy was only matched by his genius. He found your father and I at a young age, and saw something in us, something that reminded him of himself."

As much as Ranma wanted to insert a pithy comment or two, that drive was extinguished by his interest in the words he was hearing. Mr. Tendo continued, "I'm not going to go into details, not in this home, but our master tortured us ruthlessly to shape us into disciples. Not only did he train our bodies, but he made us work as his slaves. I had already met..." He tripped over his words. "...Akane's mother. Thinking of her helped me distance myself from everything, I think. The lessons he instilled and acts we performed never touched me as much as it did Genma. Or perhaps...he was just more malleable than I am. I've never been sure."

Unable to stay silent anymore, Ranma asked the question burning inside of him. "What happened? To your master, I mean, the evil guy?" Ranma had only ever asked his father once about who founded the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, and a quick slap had been the only response.

The question made Mr. Tendo flinch, but he answered it regardless. "One morning, after a particularly revolting evening of debauched activities, Saotome and I awoke to find his dead body. There was a puncture mark on his neck, and it looked clear that he'd died in his sleep. We never learned who did it, but...he had many enemies. After that, after we were free, I settled down and started my family, built the dojo. Your father went on his way, and you know how that ended up. I'm a fair martial artist myself, but Saotome was always the most passionate about expanding the school." Mr. Tendo started putting away the stones from their game, but as he did he posed a question to Ranma. "Do you know why our school is called the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts?"

The answer seemed simple enough. "It's cause we don't specialize in anything, instead focusing on strengthening our strongest points, that way we can adapt our fighting style on the fly. The flexibility is supposed to make us better, or somethin'."

"Not quite," Mr. Tendo responded, just as he finished cleaning up the table. "It's actually much more than that. You see, there are thousands of martial arts disciplines throughout the world, from the broad, like Tae Quon Do, to the specific..." Mid-sentence, Akane's father almost idly tossed a white stone at the table at an incredible speed. It ricocheted off the furniture, just past Ranma's ear, then bounced off a few walls and landed back in the bowl. "...such as Martial Arts Stone Throwing. Anything Goes is about fighting those other schools, watching their techniques, and picking up which moves are genuinely useful, adding them to your personal repertoire." He got up from the table and began leaving the room. "I hope you'll think about what I've said." Once he was gone, Ranma started thinking about that, wondering if there were any local schools he could start with. Before he could think too far though, Mr. Tendo's head popped out from a corner, looking sheepish. "I forgot to tell you: Kasumi is out of town for the night, off with some old friends of hers, so we were hoping you'd make dinner tonight. Thanks for the help." And with that he disappeared again. Mr. Tendo, Ranma thought, might not be too different from his father after all.

It taken some digging in the family shed, but she finally found it: the Buddha. Or, more accurately, a stone Buddha statue her father had acquired at some point, nearly six feet tall. After clearing the area around it, Akane reached out and grabbed it bent her knees, and tried to lift the thing. As far as she could tell, at best, she'd maybe gotten the thing a centimeter of the ground. Nonetheless, Akane held it there for ten full seconds, feeling her arms strain with that weight, then set it down. That done, she went back to the dojo, strapped on all the weights again, and went through her drills. Her heart was already beating quickly, her hands sweaty from exertion. This new idea...might just work.

By sunset, Akane's new training method had a visible result: an extra half-centimeter! Or at least, that's what she thought. And any progress was good progress. Exhausted and tired once more, she slunk into the dining room to find her dad, Ranma, and Nabiki at the table, already eating. It was only then that she recalled Kasumi's trip, and wondered who had made...was that curry?

"Look who decided to show up!" Ranma exclaimed over his bowl of white rice. Despite the words, Akane could see the warmth in his smile, and in his eyes, and she was far too tired to give him any grief. There was an empty seat waiting for her, and a bowl. On the table was a frankly ridiculous amount of white rice, as well as a container of what looked like curry. Despite that, everyone's bowls currently only held rice.

Raising an eyebrow, Akane asked Ranma as she filled up her bowl, "Was this you? Why isn't anyone eating any curry?"

The question made Ranma's eyes fall to the floor, but Nabiki stepped in quickly. "Yup, your future hubby made us all dinner. Too bad the curry smells odd enough not even he'll have some."

A quick whiff from Akane's own nose confirmed the curry smelled funky, but when she saw the dejected look on Ranma's face, she ironed her will and spooned some curry onto her rice. "I think it smells wonderful," she lied, and to her surprise it actually did taste pretty good. The rice was a little moist and plain, but the curry added the right combination of heat and flavor to make it something nice.

After dinner came the nightly study ritual, and Akane could tell Ranma was finding it all easier and easier with every passing day. As she went over some math equations with him, she found herself wondering about the odd boy. Sometimes he drove her up a wall, nothing but obstinacy and rudeness at every turn. But then again he listened to her, shared things with her, even made them all dinner when he didn't need to. Apparently she'd been introspecting too much, though, as she found Ranma looking at her confused. Realizing she'd stopped mid-sentence to just stare at him, Akane blushed and finished the lesson quickly before enjoying the comfort and solitude of her bed. Just before her consciousness faded, a stray thought occurred to her: what if she asked Ranma on a date?

Author's Notes: Sorry for the wait again, and I know this chapter might not feel as meaty as some others, but I promise you next time'll be something special.


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